Arc of Legend
by MiyazakiFan18
Summary: Armed with the power of the [Gamer], Jaune Arc vows to uphold the legendary Arc family name...by becoming the greatest Hunstman to ever defend Remnant. Jaune had forged his place in Beacon Academy, but now he will earn it with skill and strength. Gamer!Jaune, OP Jaune; Jaune x Harem.
1. Tempering Steel

**~000~**

 _Prologue - Tempering Steel_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

 **~000~**

Steel.

A peculiarly simple substance. For most men agreed steel was a platform to launch off an extension of one's Aura, or soul. But for Jaune Arc, steel was his life. Growing up in a family of famous warriors, so much pressure was put on him he forged documents to get into Beacon Academy. He had cheated his way into his school based on his trickery, but now he was going to earn it with skill and strength.

Jaune was in Beacon Academy's library, tapping the table he was sitting at nervously as Cardin Winchester and his group of fellow bullies snickered across the walkway from him.

"Hey Jaune!" Yang Xiao Long chirped, leaning over onto the table by resting her elbows and head onto it. "What's up?"

Blue eyes felt themselves travel to her breasts, that jiggled when she leaned over to speak to him. "Um...h-hey Yang..." They nervously rose up to her lilac ones.

"What's wrong?" The power-punching blonde frowned.

"I just. I just. Did you ever want to be strong? Yang?"

"I'm already strong!" She stood up and raised her golden gauntlet wearing fists. "I can punch through anything!"

Jaune looked over to Team CRDL. "I want to put Cardin in his place. He keeps calling me Jauney boy and he has me on a leash. I want to be stronger."

"Well, why don't you train then?" Yang pursed her lips.

"That won't be enough. I want to be even stronger than someone who trains. I want to be the strongest warrior to ever live." Jaune's fists tightened when he saw Cardin bump fists with Sky and smile at Yang's rear end. "I'm done being weak."

"So...how do you plan to do that?" Yang crossed her arms and exemplified her already eye-popping bosom.

"I'll find a way. And then I'll slap Cardin's stupid smile off his stupid face." Jaune rose from his seat and walked towards the exit to the library. Normally he would've ignored Cardin's foot waiting to trip him but this time he was paying more attention to detail and jumped right over it. "Not this time Winchester."

"How did he..." Cardin squinted after him, and Team CRDL appeared to be equally confused.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

The Faunus Blacksmith saw Jaune walk into his shop. "Hello. How can I help you today?"

"I sort of need a big boost to my sword..." said Jaune as he drew Crocea Mors off his hip and placed it on the counter between them. "It's the Arc family sword and I-"

"Why would you want to improve this?" inquired the smith as he picked up the blade by its blue hilt. "There are a few scratches sure but the craftsmanship is just marvelous. Good steel too."

Jaune nodded. "The only thing I've ever wanted is to become a warrior as strong as the ones in my family." Jaune looked up with determination in his blue eyes. "I won't rest until I can earn my place in Beacon, no matter what it takes."

"Someone hurting you boy?" The smith saw the small bruises on his face.

Jaune crossed his white armored arms. "This guy I want to beat up. So can you help me out?"

"Aye." muttered the smith as he nodded respectfully. "I'll help you. But since a true hero earns his strength with sacrifice I'll put a bit of a twist on this. May I?" After Jaune nodded, the Faunus took Crocea Mors into his shop and went to work.

For hours he toiled, smacking sheet after sheet of steel into the Arc family blade. Crocea Mors, with her blue grip and gold pommel and hilt, glowed red when tempered. The smith used tongs to pull her back out from her bed of coals and dipped her into a bucket of cold water with a loud hissing sound. After the blade had cooled properly, the Faunus chipped into the golden guard of the ancient sword with a chisel. With hairy arms and a sweaty face, he dove into his blacksmith's apron and took out a glowing white gem.

He made a tiny rivet or slot for an ivory dust crystal to be placed into. Smashing the dust stone into the hilt of the sword with all his might, the smith had properly embedded the white dust piece into the sword. Showing its completion, an upgraded Crocea Mors glowed a new shade of white momentarily, appearing to become lighter yet stronger under its new tempering.

Jaune stood slightly awed at the sight of his new sword, reaching for it with a steady hand. "Is that..."

"Yes indeed it is. One of the rarest dust crystals in the kingdoms." murmured the Faunus as he scratched his beard. "I've always wanted to use it on a sword, especially a family one such as yours. The effect is simple, it amplifies the strength and speed of the user and enhances their semblance-"

"Yes!" Jaune jumped into the air with a hoot.

"Except. It only may be equal to the ability of the wielder with his sword. It's not only about sheer strength but about skill as well, for the more skilled and well timed your attacks are, the better the stone will help you. The less skilled, the less it will work. It also-"

"Got it thanks bye!" Jaune ran out of the shop sprinting.

The Faunus sighed. "I guess he'll learn in his own way."

Jaune smiled as he ran down the street back to Beacon. _'Oh man! I can't wait to absolutely destroy Cardin with this!'_ He kept running. The crystal glowed whiter and a blue text box appeared in front of him.

 **[The Gamer]**

 **Name: Jaune Arc**

 **Age: 17**

 **LV 7**

Jaune stopped dead in his tracks.

The fuck?

He touched it and the blue box sprung larger.

 **[Welcome to your |Gamer| interface! Due to the magical power invested inside your |Crystal|, you have now been blessed with the power of the |Gamer|! All information pertaining to the Game and its systems are stored inside the interface. To access it at any time, simply touch your |Crystal|, and the interface will appear.]**

"What in the...what is this..." muttered Jaune.

Since he had to know how this mindbending...thing was occurring, Jaune tapped the crystal newly affixed to his sword and the interface popped up again.

 **[Menu**

 **-Player Information**

 **-Stats**

 **-System Information]**

Jaune promptly tapped on 'system information' assuming it could read his finger which it happened to be able to do so.

 **[System Information**

 **-Mechanics**

 **-Skills**

 **-Appendix]**

Not a second later, Jaune pressed |Appendix|.

 **[Appendix:**

 **\- System values - Multiple mechanics such as |Skills| and |Routes| which enable the |Gamer| to game easier.**

 **Stats - Values that determine the |Gamer's| power. Because every |Gamer| has control over their stat points and having a |Point| boost in leveling up, stats are the attributes that represent different aspects of a |Gamer|. Every stat has a cap at 100 before uncovering the next stat cap which also adds 100 to it. Stats are included but not limited to:**

 **STR: |Strength| Determines the base damage for any attack. A higher |STR| stat combined with a higher |LUK| stat will result in a higher |Critical Hit| chance. It also enables you to carry more weight and move heavier objects.**

 **SPD: |Speed| Determines the speed at which you will move. A higher |SPD| stat combined with a higher |STR| stat will result in |Power Strikes| that may defeat or seriously injure most enemies when practiced sufficiently.**

 **DEX: A more |Dextrous| person will be able to be more accurate and nimble, also working in tandem with your |SPD| stat.**

 **STA: |Stamina| determines how long you can fight for and how hard, and how long you can run at full speed. Higher |STA| increases durability and AP regeneration.**

 **INT: |Intelligence| is the determining factor in how easy it will be to memorize new skills and information, not just related to the game itself. The more difficult problem that needs be solved, the higher the |INT| stat required.**

 **WIS: |Wisdom| is very much the same, only it pertains to social information as opposed to scholarly and |Gaming| information. With higher |WIS| comes an easier ability to apply information practically.**

 **LUK: |Luck| determines how lucky you are. There is faster |Route| progression, |Romantic| or not, and |Quests| generally have higher benefits.  
**

 _'See that's great and all...but it doesn't tell me what the hell this is!'_ roared Jaune in his head.

He kept scrolling through the |Appendix| until he reached the very bottom.

 **[The Gamer -An ability that allows its user to become exponentially quicker in becoming smarter, faster and stronger than those around the user.]**

"This crystal gave me some magical ability that makes me stronger?..." Jaune's finger shook nervously in confusion over the light blue interface screen for a few seconds before he jumped into the air. "That's the most awesome thing to ever happen to me!"

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

Jaune sprinted all the way back to the library, not noticing the blue rectangles above everyone's head as he ran past hem. As Cardin approached Jaune, Jaune noticed the blue boxes hovering over his bullies head.

 **Cardin Winchester "Egghead Bully" -LV 10**

Since all his cronies had around the same description hovering over their heads along with everyone else in the library, Jaune assumed that only he was able to see them.

Cardin and Team CRDL surrounded Jaune as he sat calmly in the library again when he came back. "Hey Jauney boy. Where's my homework?"

"Probably nowhere." Jaune leaned back in his chair and groaned, his new white Dust crystal embedded into Crocea Mors shining. "Didn't feel like doing it."

"Do you have a death wish or something Jauney?" Cardin pushed Jaune's head. "Hey I'm talking to you."

"You know Cardin...I'm done being your little errand boy, so why don't you just go away?" He looked at him with a calm look on his face.

Cardin squinted and shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Well how about this? I meet you in the forest, just you and me, and we fight?"

Cardin broke into laughter at this challenge. "Deal loser. You know I already kick your ass whenever we practice right?"

"Well, then I guess everything will be just fine for you won't it?" Jaune stood up out of his chair and picked up his book as Cardin ground his teeth together in anger. "Tonight. The Emerald Forest, you and me buddy." He walked away.

"Anyone know how he got so confident?" Cardin turned to his friends who just gave him dumb looks and shrugs. "Doesn't matter." He saw Jaune push the door open to the library. "We'll all destroy 'im."

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

The whole day, Jaune ignored all of Team CRDL as if they were flies. The annoying blue boxes floating over people's heads that described everyone he knew in quirky ways became regular for him after the library. His friends began to notice how silent, calm, and focused he began to act in class. Even Weiss saw this while they studied monsters in Peter Port's classroom. "Jaune?" She looked over to her right as he was taking notes on the lecture.

Jaune took a quick peek at the rectangle over the heiress' head.

 **Weiss Schnee "Ice Cold Heiress" - LV 12**

 _'Very clever system...very clever...'_ Jaune shook his head before responding. "Mhm?"

"It's been..." She checked her silver watch. "Twenty minutes and you haven't hit on me. What's up?"

"Doesn't seem necessary I guess." Jaune threw his shoulders upwards while ignoring another spitball Cardin shot at his blonde head, seeing it coming and leaning his head forward to dodge it. "You're not into me. I used to have a crush on you. Waste of time it seems."

" _Used_ to have a crush on me?" The white-haired heiress asked with her neat posture sitting next to him.

"Please let me concentrate on the lecture Weiss. We can talk some other time after class." politely requested Jaune as he kept taking notes.

Weiss smiled and admired his attractive masculine features, actually getting distracted from a lesson for the first time in her life. _'Wow.'_ She blinked. _'He's actually taking school seriously. And not staring at me anymore or flirting!'_ Weiss gripped her pencil and looked back down at her notes. _'You're in class Weiss Schnee focus. Focus!'_

Jaune squinted at the |Game Announcement| that had appeared.

 **[Congratulations! You have successfully flustered your hot desk partner and unlocked a new |Romantic Route|: Weiss!]**

 **[You have gained +5 Affection points with |Weiss|! Current Affection Points: 5/100. Current Relationship: Rejected Crush]**

Jaune decided to get something off his chest. "Hey Weiss, can you see this right here?" Jaune pointed to the |Gamer| interface, and Weiss looked at him funny.

"See...what?" whispered the girl.

"Nothing." Jaune shrugged when he learned his earlier assumption was correct.

When Professor Peter Port ended class, Weiss skipped up to Jaune and spoke. "Hey, so do you maybe wanna study together tonight? There's an assessment coming on Grimm anatomy."

"Sorry." He saw Cardin and his group mutter to each other about something. They both made eye contact as Jaune walked ahead of her. "Busy tonight Weiss. Maybe some other time okay?" He ran off to get ready for the fight.

"Oh...oh okay." Weiss looked at him run off longingly.

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the |Acheivement| "Smooth Talker"! You have gained +1 to |WIS| as a result!]**

 **[You have gained +5 Affection on the |Weiss| |Romantic Route|!]**

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

Jaune looked at his new notification instantly.

 **[Quest Alert! |Fighting Team CRDL|: You're done taking crap from Beacon's resident bullies! It's time to man up and use all your strength to defeat them!**

 **Objective: Defeat all enemies without reaching zero AP (Aura Points) or dying!**

 **Completion Award: +2000 EXP points.**

 **Failure: +0 EXP points. Accept: Y/N]**

Without hesitation, Jaune hit the |Yes| button and walked into the Emerald Forest.

"So." Cardin rested his mace on his shoulder as he saw Jaune approach, an upgraded version of Crocea Mors in hand. "You actually came Jauney boy." joked Cardin who smirked in the clearing, deep within the Emerald Forest.

Jaune said nothing, and gripped his shield strap and adjusted his stance when he heard movement behind him. The other three members of Team CRDL approached and chuckled. "Hmm..."

He yelled and turned around. "Yah!" He swung outwards with his sword and was amazed at the results. First, the swipe was so strong and fast Sky and Dove were knocked over each other like bowling pins, Auras knocked into the red instantly. Russell became frightened and fled seeing his comrades groan in defeat atop each other.

 **[Power Strike activated - Super Slash! -25 AP]**

Cardin laughed. "I see you made an upgrade to your blade. Whatever." He tried to knock Jaune over the head with his mace when Jaune turned around, but Jaune raised his shield and was strong enough now from the Dust shard powering his Aura to absorb the blow. The system recognized a |Skill| and promptly registered it.

 **[Reinforced Block activated - +100% damage absorption]**

The yellow-haired knight then swung downwards like he was trying to cut a block of wood in half with an ax, but Cardin held the mace with both his hands and stopped it.

Jaune grunted and pulled himself off, spinning around with a swipe using Crocea Mors. Cardin stepped back and the blade missed, lunging forwards and counter attacking with another swipe with his mace.

The blow missed as Jaune unleashed an endless barrage of strikes onto his bully. Cardin was barely left standing from their sheer power, as Jaune's white dust shard embedded into his sword gleamed bright white, fueling the blonde with strength. Jaune's sword swung again and again through the air as Cardin held his mace like a shield, blocking the metal crushing blows with ease.

His |DEX| stat became important in the ensuing strikes.

Jaune's bully made the ground quake as Jaune rolled aside with a pounding heart, avoiding the downwards and missed mace smash. Jaune went for a thrust into Cardin's arm but Cardin again avoided the quick attack. The fight continued with increasing fervor, Cardin noticing how much stronger and faster Jaune's attacks were from the last time they traded blows.

 _'He's gotten better.'_ Cardin swept through the forest air with his mace making Jaune step back. _'Much better.'_ Jaune returned the attack with a swipe of his own, making Cardin step back now. _'But he still can't control himself, he'll run out of Aura in time.'_

This turned out to be true, eventually, Jaune was left panting and exhausted, looking at the scroll behind his shield with a sigh. _'I'm in the red.'_ He looked to a barely sweating Cardin. _'And he's completely fine.'_

 **[HP: 567/600**

 **AP: 13/500]**

"Come on Jauney. We'd both know it'd end this way." Cardin raised his mace into the air and knocked Jaune away to a tree. He pressed him against the tree trunk with his shoe, laying the edge of his mace against his temple. "Buh-bye Jauney!"

Before Cardin could knock him out with his mace, Jaune rolled away and the tree trunk shook under Cardin's smashing attack. Jaune's yellow hair was dripping with sweat as he stood up slowly as Cardin tried his best to pull his embedded mace out of the tree.

When he swung again at his taller metal encased opponent, the blow wasn't powered by the new white dust shard and was incredibly weak, bouncing off Cardin's grey armor like a glancing love tap. "That's it!" Jaune laughed while panting, and checked his scroll behind his shield.

 _'My Aura's almost empty. That's what the smith meant by well timed! The stone is powered directly by my Aura! I just have to be defensive when my Aura's low and offensive when my Aura's high!'_

Cardin dug his mace out of the tree and sprinted at Jaune with his mace. When the swing came, he rolled aside and preserved his Aura. Then Cardin tried to knock out Jaune with a single blow, but Jaune just felt his heart beat faster along with the rising of his Semblance. A white glow was emitted from his body and Cardin's mace bounced right off Jaune's shield.

"What the..." Cardin bellowed at the top of his lungs. "That should've shattered every bone in your arm!"

 **[Semblance |Aura Amplification| activated! +200% to damage absorption and damage output range. Remaining time until deactivation: 00:03:00]**

"Guess it's just my semblance." Jaune adjusted his stance and waited for his Aura to refill.

 _'I know what my strategy is now. I can activate my Semblance at will now, for some reason it's more responsive. I get what Pyrrha said to me, I can activate it when I want! I know what to do! My Semblance can just stop attacks when I run out of Aura, and then when I recharge my new dust shard can crush whoever I'm up against!'_

Cardin ran at Jaune and tried to hit him over and over again with his mace to no avail because Jaune's Semblance was absorbing every strike. When he ran out of Aura after so many failed attacks, his friends Sky and Dove rose from the ground and drew their weapons.

Sky's halberd and Dove's bronze short sword were raised as Cardin panted and roared. "How in the ever-loving fuck could you stop all that?!"

"It's my Semblance. Guess it's just that strong."

"Get him!" Cardin yelled when he recovered.

The bullies of Team CRDL came at him with all they had, but Jaune just stood there as his white aura shone and weapons rebounded off him. Sky's halberd bounced off his shield when Jaune timed a block correctly and made his white dust shard glow brighter. Dove's sword was smacked away as Jaune's upgraded family sword glanced it aside, and he came charging forwards to swing at him.

Jaune pivoted into his attack, sending as much of his Aura into the blow, his semblance powering it too. Crocea Mors glowed white like the rest of his body and sent Dove flying out of the Emerald Forest with a swing landing on his arm, not a moment after his sword was blocked.

Sky and Cardin ganged up on him, angry from the defeat of their comrade, they tried to bury their weapons into his body but both just bounced off like they were nothing, stopped by Jaune's Semblance like Cardin's attacks were. Eventually, it powered down after taking so many strikes from his bullies and Jaune was confused as he saw the white aura fade into nothing.

 **[Semblance deactivated. Cooldown time remaining: 05:00:00]**

 _'Huh? It can take a limited number of hits? The interface says its on a timer. Well maybe I just need to train with it more often and it can get better, I'm only just using it now.'_

The two bullies saw the white Aura shield that was Jaune's Semblance disappear and knew he was vulnerable to attacks. Jaune stepped back and raised his shield, blocking a hack from Sky's halberd while Crocea Mors in his right hand was raised and stopped a downwards slash from Cardin's mace. Continuing, the two bullies buried attack after attack into Jaune's defense in that forest clearing, but they soon became tired as Jaune's skill and timing were shown off in spades.

 **[You've developed your skill at |Basic Melee Defense|: 20(+5)/100]**

Every attack sent to him from Sky or Cardin reflected off his shield if it was blocking Sky's halberd, or Crocea Mors if it was Cardin's mace. One after the other, the two bullies found themselves facing an increasingly strategic opponent.

Jaune looked upwards with a smirk, Sky and Cardin barely able to stand from how tired they were. "My turn." coldly murmured the white armored blonde. His brown gloved hand curled into a fist and he saw the scroll in his left hand holding his shield. His high |STA| stat showed off as his aura was regenerated quickly.

 **[HP:489/600**

 **AP: 349/500]**

 _'I've recovered my Aura now, which means the new dust shard should be working at its most efficient!'_

Jaune yelled as he slashed across Sky's chest and sapped all his Aura in a single shot from its powered strength, making the bully fall to the ground. He kicked Sky away to a tree with his boot as Cardin was too tired to move. He grunted, bashing his white shield right into Cardin's face and breaking his nose, bloodying it as well. As the bully laid defeated against a tree, Jaune pressed his boot into Cardin's armored chest, glaring into his eyes angrily.

Humbled and defeated, the bully relented with a sigh. "I...I'm sorry...Jaune..." Cardin gulped. "For pushing you around and all that."

His fellow Beacon student left him there on the forest floor like he was nothing as he strode away. He then left a defeated Sky and Cardin there on the forest floor and began his walk back to his dorm with a confident new stride, which included a straighter posture and sheathed weapons.

As he walked out of the Emerald Forest, he received a few notifications.

 **[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the quest |Fighting Team CRDL|, and have leveled up as a result!]**

 **[LV 7 -LV 10 (123/2000 EXP)]**

 **[You have currently 15 skill points ready to be invested in your |Stats|, would you like to use them now? Y/N]**

After hitting |Yes|, Jaune read the new pop up on his |Player Information|.

 **[The Gamer]**

 **Name: Jaune Arc**

 **Age: 17**

 **LV 10 (123/2000 EXP)**

 **HP: 489/630**

 **AP: 411/500**

 **Skill Points: 15**

 **STR: 23/100**

 **SPD: 16/100**

 **DEX: 24/100**

 **STA: 19/100**

 **INT: 11/100**

 **WIS: 12/100**

 **LUK: 9/100**

Jaune remembered how in combat, his |STA| stat was very useful in powering his aura and regenerating it as well. His |STR| allowed for stronger strikes to be both given and blocked, and his |DEX| might've made it easier for him avoid hits, so he placed five points into each of those three |Stats|.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

Jaune already enjoyed the system for helping him get stronger, but he also started enjoying it for the funny way it had of describing his friends. He decided to start glancing at the various blue boxes above their heads as they sat around a breakfast table in the Beacon Academy mess hall.

 **Ruby Rose "Cutesy Scythe Wielder" -LV 11**

 **Lie Ren "Quiet Ninja" -LV 9**

 **Yang Xiao Long "Busty Pun Lovin' Boxer" -LV 10**

Cardin and his gang were feeling particularly angry about losing to Jaune and picked on Velvet when she sat by herself. "Hey Faunus girl. Nice ears." Sky tugged on them as the rest of Team CRDL laughed.

"Hey." Jaune walked over to them crossed his arms. "Do I need to teach you all a lesson like I did last night?"

"N-no Jaune!" Cardin stuttered with the same bruise Jaune gave him on his right eye, afraid of calling Jaune Jauney in fear of him now. His friends nodded and almost sprinted out of the cafeteria.

Jaune sat down next to Velvet and frowned. "I'm sorry they've treated you like that. But I don't think they're going to do that anymore."

"What did you do to them Jaune?" asked Velvet.

"I taught Cardin and his gang a lesson." He stood up and walked back to the table with all his friends from teams JNPR and RWBY. "I've got a test on Evermore anatomy to study on but uh...Pyrrha?"

Her green eyes lit up. "Yes?" She looked up from her breakfast with her beautiful smile.

"Do you want to train tonight?" Jaune held his book.

"Of course." Pyrrha nodded to him.

"Great, I'll see you then Pyrrha. See you all later." Jaune walked away with a new straighter posture right out of the cafeteria, smiling back at some girls who waved to him along the way.

"Is it me, or has Jaune gotten a lot cooler?" Ren asked all the other Beacon students at the table, after looking at his leader curiously.

"No, it's not just you." Ruby shrugged.

"Agreed." Weiss and Pyrrha sighed dreamily at that blonde warrior that now walked around Beacon more confidently, doing so now right out of the cafeteria. Jaune tapped the crystal embedded into his sword and read up a bit more on it in the interface's |Appendix|.

 **|Crystal of Duality: This crystal will grow increasingly better in effectivity along with the strength and skill of its user, and it powers and is powered directly to and by the power and Aura of its wielder. It is said that white versions of these crystals never stop enhancing abilities, and will have an infinite amount of power to help heroes as they become stronger. More importantly, the crystal of duality is the only shard embedded with the power of the |Gamer|. The crystal will make users stronger substantially, but will be enhanced itself when the wielder becomes stronger based on his own merits without the help of the shard.|**

Jaune really enjoyed his new |Gamer| power that his crystal gave him, but he also knew one thing while reading this on his new dust crystal: It was going to send him down a path to becoming the strongest hunter he could be, helping him greatly along the way. But he also knew it would take a lot of hard work to improve himself to the point he wanted, and enhance his new crystal and thus himself along with it. The Gamer power would only help, as it was the thing Jaune enjoyed most in his life at the current moment.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **Author's Note:**

 **So I read enough Gamer fics to know that the |System| has a decently funny sense of humor, and this will basically be the slowest way to get Jaune OP and have a harem. Yeah, so there's Romance Game elements. Qrow is fucking awesome and I'll be trying to introduce him as soon as plot permits.**

 **A couple of important notes. One, Jaune can become OP because his stats can go over 100 indefinitely. Second, the Gamer power cannot be stolen from him, since the moment he got the Shard it was his, thus it is permanent. If he loses his sword or the shard, it will just be harder to access the menu but he can still develop a skill or level up to access the system and invest skill points.**

 **I will be deviating from canon in the sense that things will happen but _quite_ differently than they would have if Jaune didn't have more control over them. But this will NOT be a beat for beat copy of the entire show, because that would be very boring. If you like my stuff, check out my writing schedule on my profile along with my stories, o** **ne of them is a Sword Art Online one. Thanks for reading, see y'all next time.**


	2. Unexpected Trouble

**~000~**

 _Chapter One - Unexpected Trouble_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

 **~000~**

"Well, I definitely feel stronger after training that hard." affirmed Jaune as he rested next to Pyrrha on his back. The two had to take a quick break from training so hard together and sat down on the edge of their rooftop. After sparring with her, the [System] registered his improvement.

 **[You've earned +1 to |Strength| from your improvement at |Melee Basics|!]**

Pyrrha nodded back and wiped sweat off her brow, their feet hanging over the edge of that rooftop they always trained every night at. "Wait..." Pyrrha observed his more developed upper body defined exquisitely under his white armor. "Are your muscles bigger?"

"Uh...I don't know." Jaune leaned over and placed his hands on the edge of the rooftop next to her. "Been training a lot lately I guess."

"Well, they do look better." noticed Pyrrha.

 **[Congratulations! You've gotten your fine sparring partner to check you out! You've progressed in the |Romantic Route| |Pyrrha| by +5 Affection points! (Current Progress: 13/100. Current Relationship: Mutual Friends)]**

Her partner decided to compliment her back. "Thanks Pyrrha, your muscles look fine too." Jaune's blue eyes widened as Pyrrha laughed. "I meant that-"

"Stop, it's fine I got what you meant." She extended a hand outwards comfortingly.

Jaune sighed in relief. It really surprised him how much better than him Pyrrha understood people and what they tried to say most of the time.

"Yeah." Jaune noticed the sweat on his training partners body as their weapons lay discarded behind them. Jaune felt his eyes latch onto a particular bead of sweat, that fell from her head all the way into the valley between her breasts. Jaune gulped, admiring how her shoulderless bronze chest plate was showing off those magnificent assets of hers.

What he would give to grab the-

Shaking his head again, Jaune stood up. "Wanna get back to it?" asked the blonde.

Nodding, Pyrrha held her spear Milo and her shield Akouo. As Pyrrha armed herself Jaune eyed the title the [System] gave her.

 **Pyrrha Nikos "Valiant Spartan" - LV 15**

They got into their stances and returned to training. Jaune attacked first, striking Pyrrha's shield with a well-executed slash using Crocea Mors.

 **[You've successfully executed |Power Slash|! The |Crystal| has become more effective as a result! (Boost I: 12 (+5)/100)]**

Jaune didn't really care about this, as simply training with Pyrrha was attention consuming enough. He would have to figure out what this [Boost] was later on however when he saw it earlier. The Crystal of Duality worked, enjoying how Jaune acted skillfully instead of brashly and stronger on his own, it powered the attack and almost sent Pyrrha flying off her feet as her shield absorbed the blow.

She staggered as Jaune panicked. "You okay?" He worried.

"Yes." answered Pyrrha who came back stronger and went for a thrust at Jaune's chest with her spear, which was tossed aside by his shield and countered with a perfectly timed thrust of his own. Again the Crystal powered the attack and Pyrrha found herself knocked across the rooftop when the white flash struck her body. Her spear and shield were thrown out of her hands from the power of the Jaune's strike, rolling across the rooftop, Pyrrha dodged another slash from Jaune when she sprang back upon her feet and picked up her weapons.

They came back to sparring, one attacking the other defending. Neither winning. It ended whence Pyrrha disarmed him as Jaune carelessly let his [Aura Points] deplete.

"Thanks Pyrrha," muttered Jaune as she helped him off the ground by his hand.

"Whoof!" Pyrrha rested her hands on her round hips. "That was some mighty fine training wasn't it?"

"Yes indeed it was." murmured Jaune. He glanced at her combat outfit. _'Why the hell would she dress...so distractingly when we practice?'_ These thoughts gave way from her eye grabbingly curvy body as he spoke. "But are we even allowed to train so late? I think the headmaster would get mad."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that Mr. Arc." A sudden voice said, strolling right onto the rooftop with them.

"H-Headmaster Ozpin!" Pyrrha stuttered.

"Ms. Nikos, can you give your friend and I some time alone please?" requested Ozpin.

"Of course sir." Pyrrha left as quickly as she could carrying her weapons.

Ozpin returned to looking at Jaune. "Cardin Winchester came into my office this morning. He usually complains about the noise you two make training together every night, the metal clashing and all that, but this morning...he said something rather strange. He mentioned how he overheard you admitting to your partner who just left us, that you cheated your way into Beacon."

"S-Sir I can-"

"Please don't interrupt me Mr. Arc." Ozpin blinked.

Jaune nodded and gulped. "Yes sir."

 _'I'm gonna get expelled...'_ torturously thought Jaune.

"Now this wasn't news, but it was still strange how he came to me about this and not you. I had a feeling you had more honor in you Jaune, considering your family and all." noted Beacon's headmaster.

"M-My family is made up of some of the best Hunstmen of all time!" Jaune started making worried excuses. "Do you have any idea what kind of pressure that puts on me? How can ever I live up to that?!"

"I've already made my decision." murmured Ozpin stoically.

The blonde understood sadly. "I'll go pack my bags." Jaune tried to brush past him but his headmaster's hand shot out and held the part of his armor that covered his shoulders. "I wouldn't do that just yet Mr. Arc." He said.

"Wh-Why not?" stuttered Jaune as he spoke to his headmaster on the rooftop where he trained nightly with Pyrrha.

Ozpin removed the hand stopping Jaune from leaving off of his shoulder. "Did you think you were the first student to try and forge their way into Beacon? I recognized your documents weren't signed properly the moment I read them. However, I always sensed that there was some greatness in you Jaune, which is why I didn't rebuff your papers. And seeing how quickly you are coming along as a Huntsman, I'd say I made the right decision." Ozpin didn't smile as he finished talking.

"S-So I'm expelled then?" asked Jaune.

"Under normal circumstances yes." answered Ozpin. "However, you are a special case. I noticed how Mr. Winchester was wearing a bruised mark on his eye and he'd told me he'd gotten it the week before. Inquiring further, he told me you'd given it to him. Along with that, you went on to defeat his entire group without Ms. Nikos' help. Quite a feat indeed. To take on an entire team of huntsmen in training by yourself and win is a remarkable accomplishment."

"Thank you sir." said Jaune instantly, glad he wasn't expelled from Beacon.

"Beautiful view isn't it?" noted Ozpin as he stared out over his shimmering school at nighttime. "I'm surprised you and Ms. Nikos don't just sit here admiring the view every night instead of training, just from its beauty." Ozpin sighed. "This is a very dangerous world we live in Jaune Arc, we need strong warriors like you and your teammates, especially your training partner Ms. Nikos, to protect the realm from those that would harm it. Do you promise me that you'll never do anything to make me regret my decision, and to defend the people of Remnant from the evils of this world, whatever they may be, to your fullest ability?"

Jaune Arc planted a brown gloved fist over his increasingly muscular chest. "I promise I will sir." promised Jaune as pride glimmered in his blue eyes.

"I expect nothing but the best from you, Mr. Arc." Ozpin murmured. "And the best from you means great things. Extraordinary things."

"Goodnight Headmaster." Jaune started to leave with Crocea Mors sheathed and his shield undeployed.

The headmaster nodded. "Goodnight Mr. Arc." bade Ozpin. Before he left, Ozpin added a question. "How do you like Beacon Academy so far Mr. Arc?"

"How do I like Beacon so far?" asked Jaune rhetorically, scratching the back of his head. "Um...there's all these people with all these crazy weapons and magic and Semblances and I'm just sort of...this guy with a sword."

Ozpin looked at his blonde student. "Have you unlocked your Semblance yet?"

"Kind of?..." Jaune murmured. "I was about to get hit with a mace in the head last week, and this white thing glowed around me. I don't know if it's my Semblance or a defensive Aura shield so yeah..."

"It's possible it could be a combination of both." Suggested the headmaster. "Perhaps your Semblance ensures a more powerful Aura that cannot be penetrated at anytime. Making you unbeatable in combat."

"Yeah...heh heh." chuckled Jaune. "Unbeatable in combat, that'd be nice."

After nodding and returning to his dormitory, Jaune fell asleep in his bed. Ozpin stayed staring out from the rooftop, watching Beacon glimmer in the nighttime. _'Jaune Arc. You will never cease to amaze me will you? It is for your strength and valor that I trusted in you, and now it will be your honor._ _Your family may have our realms best fighters, but I feel that you have more untapped potential in you than any other student here. Or any I've met. I hold a strong belief that your Semblance can allow you to become a warrior more powerful than anything I've seen._ _I think that you will fulfill your promise. Now and always.'_

The stars twinkled a bit brighter over Beacon that night, and Ozpin now knew full well that Jaune would earn his place with growing might.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

Jaune had never been to Beacon's infirmary before, but he looked at the wooden sign hanging above it before he walked in. 'Beacon Infirmary' it read. He opened the door and walked in, seeing the stern Huntress Glynda Goodwitch surprised to see him. "Mr. Arc? Why are you here? You look perfectly healthy." the blonde young woman said.

Jaune walked into the room looking at the label the [System] gave her.

 **Glynda Goodwitch "Friendly School Nurse/Combat Teacher" - LV 47**

"Yeah...I haven't been feeling healthy though." Jaune answered.

Glynda fixed her dress and patted the green bed where patients usually sat down on. "Well, why don't you sit here and I'll take a look at you."

He started taking off his white armor. "Thanks." Jaune removed the upper part of his Beacon Academy school uniform. Afterwards, he showed off his bare torso by removing the white shirt under it.

 _'My word...'_ Glynda's green eyes widened when she saw him sit down shirtless on the patient bed. _'He's one of the most muscular boys I've ever seen!'_

"I've been training harder than ever with Pyrrha lately. I found this weird thing with this crystal in my sword and..." He shook his head. "The point is my body's been feeling like it growing unnaturally quickly. And it's been pretty sore."

"W-well have you been encountering anything out of the ordinary lately?" Glynda felt herself growing redder by the minute.

 _'Tell her about the [Crystal]...tell her about the [Crystal] you idiot!'_ Jaune yelled at himself in his head. He cleared his throat. "Um...not really no."

"Well then it's a common soreness from all the exercise." Glynda's heels clicked as she walked to a small drawer and withdrew an ointment. She walked back to Jaune. "Here, this is a simple ointment I bought last week. Rub it where you feel sore and you should feel it go away within a few minutes."

"Thanks." Jaune smiled as he took the small bottle from her. He unscrewed the small cap on it and started rubbing the ointment over his aching muscles. Glynda tried not to salivate but it was out of her control.

She sniffed. "Do you need help with that?"

Jaune accepted and Glynda helped in applying the ointment to Jaune's torso. Jaune was pretty sure she was violating some sort of school code, but he would be caught dead before reporting the kind nurse. As she rubbed her hands over him, Jaune noticed her revealing white dress that showed off her rack.

 _'Is every woman in my life amazingly attractive?'_

He noticed the [System]'s reaction.

 **[Congratulations! Your super kind (and hot) school nurse has helped rub ointment on you! You have unlocked a new |Romantic Route|: Glynda!]**

 **[You have advanced +10 Affection points on the |Glynda| route (10/100)! Current Relationship: Friendly Acquaintances]**

Jaune couldn't help but feel a little distraught over the [System]'s nonchalant manner towards his perversions. Then again, he always assumed whoever designed it must've been some sort of pervert as well. A funny one at that, Jaune had to admit.

Glynda smiled and removed her hands from rubbing the ointment all over Jaune's growingly muscular upper body. "There." she smiled kindly. "Better?"

He nodded as he felt the soreness of his muscles evaporate. "Yeah, thank you Ms. Goodwitch."

"Oh please, call me Glynda." Her kindness returned to sternness as she looked at him. "Now make sure to apply it whenever you feel sore again. You wouldn't want to overexert your chest muscles wouldn't you?" Her emerald eyes appeared to be dagger like through her glasses.

"N-no ma'am."

"Thank you for seeing me Mr. Arc. Feel free to come by anytime." Glynda nodded.

Jaune waved to her on his way out with the upper part of his school uniform back on, and she waved back. He groaned pleasantly as he walked from the infirmary, muttering beneath his breath. "Damn, that felt nice. Should tell her I feel sore every day after that..."

He walked to the courtyard in front of Beacon where a few students were chatting about, and he heard a sharp screech pierce the air. "Hey, uncle Qrow!"

Jaune could've sworn he saw Ruby use her Semblance as she zipped around her uncle, hugging him from different angles while giggling.

"Hey kiddo." The Hunstman rubbed the top of Ruby's head. "Where's your sister?"

"Yang's training, it's so good to see you Uncle Qrow! What brings you to Beacon?" chirped Ruby.

"Payday. Ozpin started this dumb rule that you got to come to Beacon to collect your salary. Pretty sure he's coming up with an excuse to have another boring meeting between everyone again but whatever." Qrow looked around the courtyard of his old school. "That fountain still has that crack huh?"

Jaune muttered to Yatsuhashi Daichi, a male student from Beacon who was part of Team CFVY. "Hey. Who's that?"

Yatsuhashi had a funny accent that Jaune couldn't exactly put his finger on where it came from. "That's Qrow Branwen, one of the Headmaster's top Hunstmen. I've heard he's been all over the world."

"All over the world huh?" Jaune rubbed his chin. _'Hm. Maybe he can answer a question of mine...'_

Ruby and Qrow talked as Jaune walked up to him. "Hey there...you're Qrow right?"

"Yeah?" he said in his scratchy voice.

"Uncle Qrow, this is Jaune Arc. Yang likes to call him Vomit Boy."

The knight sighed. "You vomit once on a landing ship...and no one lets you forget it."

"Yup!" giggled Ruby as she showed Jaune his contact name on her Scroll.

Qrow eyed Jaune up and down. _'Seems pretty tall. Doesn't look very fast though...'_ he unscrewed his flask's cap and spoke in his signature growl. "So then, how can I help you?"

Jaune had a thought of his own about the man as he stared at his flask. _'He must run really deep with Ozpin if he's allowed to drink on campus...'_ He focused on Qrow's tired face instead. "Yeah...I was wondering if you've ever heard of a power called...The Gamer?"

"What." Qrow paused before pouring liquor into his mouth, placing it back into his grey coat.

"It's a sort of Scroll interface...but built into a dust crystal? It...lets me get better at fighting faster than anyone else..." mumbled Jaune.

"Yeah...I read about it in a book someplace," growled Qrow.

"Really?" Jaune's curious blue eyes lit up.

Qrow chuckled quietly. "No...Haven't ever heard of something so strange before actually."

"Are you sure?" implored Jaune.

"Kid I've been from one side of Remnant to other. And not once...have I ever seen a magical ability that acts like an electronic system. It's actually getting stranger the more I think about it." Qrow kicked a rock as he turned around and made for the school. "See ya later Ruby, gotta talk to Oz."

"Bye Uncle Qrow!" Ruby giggled and waved as he walked away.

Jaune looked at her waving away to her uncle. She was quite honestly the most unique girl he'd ever met. No one carried a weapon like hers, and her eyes were beyond one of a kind. For some reason, her hair was the most intriguing part of her to him. It was a strange combination of red and black that Jaune couldn't take his eyes off of.

Ruby turned to Jaune. "Hey Jaune, 'sup?"

"Not much...your hair um...it looks very pretty today..." complimented Jaune.

"Ohh!...thank you!" Ruby said in her usual peppy attitude.

 **[You have gained +1 Affection points on the |Ruby| |Romantic Route|! Current Relationship: Socially Awkward Team Leaders]**

 _'Compliments are only a single point? Screw you system...'_ Jaune groaned in his thoughts.

"Your uncle seems really cool," Jaune said as he followed Ruby into the school.

"I barely see him anymore since I've come here to Beacon," sighed Ruby.

"Is he your uncle on your mother's side?"

She shrugged. "More like my sort of uncle. He's really Yang's mother's...nevermind. I just call him Uncle Qrow."

"How'd you do on that Evermore quiz last week?"

"All right. Weiss told me she tutored you on it."

"Weiss talks about me?" Jaune looked to Ruby.

The girl nodded. "More and more lately. You've changed a lot ever since you got your sword reforged."

"For...the better?" wondered Jaune.

Ruby's smile lit up. "I'm not one to judge anyone. It's not my place anywhere to do that."

Jaune laughed on the inside. _'Wow...I don't know who's nicer...Her or Pyrrha. I guess Pyrrha's a more kind of mature kindness, and Ruby's a cuter one.'_

"Do you have anything planned today?" pondered Ruby.

"Not really. Ren and I were gonna finish up that project Oobleck gave us."

"Oh no I just realized that's due when the weekends over!" Ruby held her head. She made little pants as she zipped past other Beacon students and upstairs into the dormitories, Jaune watching the whole way. He knew she was fast in general, but he truly wondered if she just naturally used her Semblance to move around faster usually.

When he reached his dorm, Ren was reading.

"Finish it on your own?" Jaune closed the door behind him.

The other boy nodded quietly with a book in his hands.

"Thanks man. Gonna nap." Ren's team leader changed out of his school uniform, slipped himself into his bunk and fell asleep, Ren continuing to read quietly the whole time.

 **~000~**

When he woke up from his relaxing nap, the blonde stretched and yawned with a brand new [System Notification] in front of him.

 **[You have slept in your bunk bed. HP and AP have been restored.]**

Jaune checked his system's [Status] option by tapping his sword's crystal and saw how his [HP] and [AP] was a little higher than usual. Jaune didn't know if this was because of the nap he just took, or if he just got stronger naturally and the [System] recognized it. Either way, he took the chance to glance at his stats.

 **Skill Points: 0**

 **STR: 31/100**

 **SPD: 19/100**

 **DEX: 30/100**

 **STA: 25/100**

 **INT: 13/100**

 **WIS: 12/100**

 **LUK: 9/100**

He noticed that he had leveled up gradually by two whole levels over the last week and his stats had reflected that. He was very grateful for the system as it made him stronger than most and allowed him to progress more efficiently as a Hunstman in training. There was a knock on the door and Jaune instinctively tapped the white shard embedded into Crocea Mors and Qrow entered.

"Hey kid, I wanted to talk to you."

"Uh..." Jaune rubbed his eye. "About what?"

"About what you asked me earlier," said Qrow. "You actually have that ability, do you? It wasn't just some random off the wall question was it?"

"Nope..." Jaune chuckled. "Heh heh. Guess it was a random question."

"Ah, okay. I was just wondering." Qrow placed his hand on the doorknob and Jaune spoke out. "Wait." he said.

Jaune bit his canine into his lip. "Say...if I actually did have this power...what would you say?"

Qrow took his hand off the doorknob to Team JNPR's dorm. "Depends. Is it very powerful?"

"It's...quite easily the most powerful thing I've ever had."

"Well then I'd tell you to keep it secret. If word got out that there are shards that grant magical abilities like that...then people would be looking for them more than there already are. Can...you show me this power?" Qrow asked.

"Not really. I asked my friend Weiss if she could see it, and she said no."

"Hm." Qrow rubbed his chin. "I don't really see what you'd get out of lying about this sort of thing...so I'll take your word for it. Tell me what it's like."

"It's like a Scroll system built into this shard." Jaune tapped the crystal forged into his sword. "Whenever I get stronger, it gives me numbers and stuff telling me how far I've progressed."

"So it lets you train normally...but you get more out of it than normal."

"Yeah exactly like that. It's been really helpful. The Shard has this weird boost thing...I don't really know what it does but..." Jaune closed the [Interface] by tapping the white gem. "I've been feeling a lot stronger than usual. And this new power I got's really been helping."

Qrow looked at Jaune in the eyes. "Then you know that you can't let anyone else know about it. And do right by it."

"Yeah...yeah, I will."

Qrow nodded as he turned around and almost walked straight into the door as it opened with the rest of Team JNPR entering their shared dorm.

"Oh!" Pyrrha looked surprised at the sudden stranger. "Sorry about that."

"Don't worry about it." growled the man in his regular tone as he walked away.

Nora looked at Jaune sitting on his bed. "Who was that?"

"Yang's uncle...at least that's what Ruby told me." Jaune groaned quietly as he stood up wearing his white and gold shorts he used to sleep in.

"He looked like a Hunstman," remarked Pyrrha.

"Well!" Nora put her hands on her hips. "What gave it away? Could it be the massive scythe he carried on his back?" Nora leaned over a little and pointed to her lower back.

"It looked very well forged." mused Ren in his calm voice. "And it wasn't that large Nora."

Pyrrha looked at Jaune. "Did you find that hair clip of mine?" Jaune pulled it out from his nightstand's drawer. "Thank you." Pyrrha applied it to her crimson red hair.

Team JNPR mostly just burned time until they got tired by telling stories, sitting in a small circle in the middle of the dormitory.

"And then the giant monster ate the princess and her knight and they all lived happily ever after inside its stomach!" Nora raised her hands up in the air in pride. "The...glorious end!"

Pyrrha and Jaune applauded calmly as Nora bowed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." The girl smiled and sat back down.

"What kind of stories do you have to tell Ren?" Pyrrha looked to him.

Ren pulled his novel out from under his bed. "This one's one of my favorites. Blake lent me it, it's part of a story book, and it's called the Witch and the Three Widows."

"Ooh..." Nora put her face on her hands. "Sounds dark..."

Ren began to read. "In a small village in the hills, the widows of three of the greatest warriors in their town were great friends. Without each other, they were nothing, and they were all inseparable. One night after gathering together, one of the widows walked out of the village to where the witch of the town lived far from everyone else. Most villagers avoided her...but still she entered the witch's hut and spoke to her.

'I miss my husband very dearly. And so do my friends. Please, grant us a life with them.'

The witch said that she could not bring them back, but she could grant her a vision of her husband in her sleep. She gave her a small potion and told her to drink it every night before she slept. Later that night, the widow was visited by her husband's spirit in her dreams. When she awoke, she immediately told her friends about how happy she was about seeing her fallen husband in her mind again, and how real it all felt.

The widows would then spend every night drinking this potion, visiting their husbands in their dreams. And every day, the other villagers of the town noticed how seemingly lifeless and out of touch with everything the widows became...almost as if their souls were leaving their bodies. They ate and drank and spoke very little, spending their lives almost completely in their beds sleeping. After a month of visiting their husbands in their dreams, their bodies had had enough...and the widows never awoke from their slumber.

Either way, the widows had their wishes granted, and met their husbands in a new life at last." Ren closed his book.

"Booooo!" Nora raised her downturned thumb. "Booo! That story sucked Ren! What kind of ending was that? No one got eaten!"

"It's a very sad story Nora." Pyrrha frowned.

"Try losing your whole kingdom to monsters and then getting eaten with your last soldier! Plllbbbb!" She referenced her story and crawled into her bunk bed atop Pyrrha's.

Ren shrugged as Pyrrha spoke. "I thought the moral of the story was don't get too attached to something to the point of killing yourself over it."

"Psssh, I thought it was don't drink stuff old ladies give you in their huts." Nora blew some of her orange hair out of her face.

"Jaune, what did you think it was?..." Pyrrha looked over to the blonde boy's bed. "Jaune?"

"I think he was asleep this whole time..." Nora said.

Ren turned in his bed. "I don't blame him. He's been training like crazy lately."

"I think he's a good leader! A great one!" Nora said with her head on her hands on her pillow, staring up at the ceiling.

Pyrrha agreed from below her. "He's more than that...he tries his best to be great...and even more when he wants to improve. I can tell from when we practice."

Team JNPR then all fell asleep one by one. Even Ren, whose favorite pastime was staying up late reading.

 **~000~**

Up in Ozpin's office, Qrow spoke to him. "I talked to that kid you told me about. The yellow-haired one."

"Ah...Mr. Arc..." Ozpin stirred his tea in his hand. "What about him?"

"He doesn't seem like the kind of kid to lie."

"You'd be surprised," Ozpin smirked beneath his teacup. "But he has become surprisingly honest in his hard work, both in his studies and in training."

"Yeah well he told me about a power he had that let him become so incredibly hard-working." Qrow watched as Ozpin spun around in his chair to face him. "He told me he got it from a crystal in his sword. And it's pure magic that only he can see. You know what that means right?"

Ozpin slurped more tea calmly.

"Oz, it means it came from-"

"From Them yes. But that doesn't mean there are more of them."

"It was a dust shard. A white one but still." insisted Qrow. "That kind of power shouldn't belong to some kid. We've gotta look for more of them, and find them before She does."

"I can't really stop you from going off. Even though you are...very behind schedule on all of your assignments." Ozpin slid a small envelope across his desk which Qrow picked up.

He sighed when he opened it. "Was this for Vacuo? I told you, it wasn't-"

"It very much was your fault. But secondly, you will not look for these...things until you've been caught up on the work I've given you."

"You're telling me that grunt work is more important than looking for shards of immense power?"

Ozpin drank more tea. "Even if there were more of them. What makes you think you can find them? From what I've heard, shards of that level of power are harder to come by than anything else. You'd have an easier time counting every leaf in the Emerald Forest."

"So I'd find them eventually." flatly said Qrow.

"No, I'm saying that it's a waste of time."

"Oz I've been at your side for years...but this...this I can't do."

"I have a strong reason to believe this sort of power is one of a kind. But if another exists...we can just...use the one who already has it acquired." Ozpin drank more tea.

Qrow saw Ozpin walk around his desk and approach him. "So should I be training him myself?"

"He'll be ready when the time comes I'm sure of it. His performance thus far has given me no reason to doubt him."

That gave Qrow what he needed. "Okay...then I'll be on my way."

Ozpin nodded. "Safe travels."

"Thanks Oz." Qrow left via the elevator out of his office.

He walked out of Beacon Academy thinking. _'I think Oz's probably right. We were lucky enough to get our hands on the only one. I mean, that's a one of a kind power isn't it?'_ Qrow morphed into a crow and fluttered out of Beacon with a squawk.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **Author's Note: Sorry for not uploading in three months, got caught up with other stuff. Next up should be Mask of the Gamer, as I am following my writing schedule...slightly? Eitherway, don't worry there will not be Gamers other than Jaune, he will be the only one. Anyways...thank you all for readin'!**


	3. A Strange Night

**~000~**

 _Chapter Two- A Strange Night_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

 **~000~**

Tukson looked over the paper in his strong hands, the Faunus observing calmly. "Hmm. Can't say I can turn down someone with a letter of recommendation from Beacon's Headmistress and Combat Instructor." his calm eyes focused on Glynda's signature. "I've heard she's a very serious woman, you must know her very well to get her to allow this."

Jaune chuckled quietly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Eh...heh heh. I guess you can say that."

"How many years have you been training at Beacon?" asked Tukson.

"I'm...almost done with my first year." murmured Jaune down at the floor.

The bookstore owner laughed calmly as he put the paper away. "Well with all these Dust robberies happening everywhere I think its the perfect time to hire someone like you. And since obviously your school has no problem with it." He glanced at the paper again. "You're hired."

"Oh, thanks." Jaune nodded.

"Say, doesn't that Goodwitch woman have too many jobs?"

"A lot yeah. She's the school nurse and she helps Ozpin run the school in a lot of ways." Jaune shrugged. "So...how much am I getting paid?"

"100 Lien a week. Business has not been good lately..."

Jaune brushed some dust off a nearby bookshelf. "That's fine. Not really doing it for the money."

The bookshop's door triggered a small bell to ring and Jaune turned around. Blake Belladonna walked right in and Jaune cleared his throat. "Welcome to Tukson's-"

"She's been here before Jaune." interrupted Tukson with a chuckle. "My most loyal customer actually."

"Right." Jaune remembered how much Blake enjoyed books. "Boss, I'm gonna go...stand near the door."

"Sure." Tukson reopened his book and sat back down.

Jaune approached Blake as she brushed her finger over the romance aisle. "So...Blake...why aren't you hanging around with the rest of your team?"

"Why aren't you?" she answered.

"Um...I just gotta new job as a guard here."

"Hm." the black haired girl put a book back in its shelf quickly after just glancing at the title.

Jaune saw the sour look on her face. "Hey...are you all right? You seem gloomy."

Blake shot him a glare and returned to looking at books.

"I mean...I get that. But...more so than usual?"

She put a book down. "Jaune...do you think the White Fang are evil?"

He pressed his lips together tightly. "I don't really know. Ever since I was a little kid, I always wanted to be a Hunstman and stop those kinds of people. But I don't think that's the Faunus' fault. I think it's easy to guide someone down the wrong path."

Blake hid her smile. "Huh, that's actually very reasonable."

Jaune knew this was coming.

 **[Congratulations! You have struck a chord with your mysteriously quiet yet attractive friend and unlocked a new |Romantic Route|: Blake!]**

 **[You have gained +5 Affection points with |Blake|! Current Affection Points: 13/100. Current Relationship: Platonic Friends]**

Jaune squinted at the [System Notification] in thought. _'Wait...I already had some progression on this route...does this mean she's already into me a little?'_

The yellow-haired paladin cleared his throat. "But...why do you ask?"

Blake sighed. "Weiss is acting brattier than usual."

"Is that even possible?" joked Jaune.

Blake snorted into a small giggle.

 **[You have gained +5 Affection points with |Blake|!]**

She breathed out of her laughter. "Yeah...more so than usual. She won't stop talking about how the White Fang are all 'criminal scum.' "

"What set her off?" wondered Jaune.

"A Faunus snuck into the Harbor and ran from those nitwit police chiefs. Seriously, Vale really needs to reconsider who they pay."

Jaune shook his head. "Some people are pretty set in her ways. Wanna see something cool?"

Blake shrugged. "Why not?"

He led her over to a large book catching sunlight. "Okay...The Heroes of Remnant. This is a book containing the missions of every great Huntsman or Huntress who ever lived."

"Why're there colored page markers?" noticed Blake.

"Some families grew into Hunting as a tradition." Jaune opened the book and ran his gloved hand over the first page, a small paper acting as a color key for the page markers. "There are a ton of different families here...but the most recurring one in this book..."

Blake saw the large number of yellow page markers. "Arc..." she looked at him. "That must be a lot of pressure."

"You have no idea." Jaune snorted a tiny bit. "JNPR and I went out for ice cream a few weeks ago, and I read this book then...can't stop thinking about it really."

"Why?"

"Why else? Gotta get in those pages too somehow don't I?" Jaune closed the book.

Blake looked at him comfortingly. "Jaune...you're gonna be a great Huntsman. You've got nothing to worry about."

"Thank Blake." He smiled back at her and saw the floating box over her head.

 **Blake Belladonna "Ninja Cat Girl" - LV 16**

 _'She's...she's a Faunus? Is...'_ He looked up at her bow. _'Is that why she wears that? To cover her ears_? _... Well, I guess it makes sense why she took the White Fang thing so personally.'_

"Hey there's this really nice tea shop not far from here. Wanna go there?" offered Blake.

"Uh..."

Tukson nodded from his desk. "It's okay. You two go on ahead. Just be back before I close up shop all right?"

Jaune smiled as he walked out of the shop. "Thanks Mr. Tukson!"

The bookshop owner chuckled to himself as the door jingled again. "Mr. Tukson..."

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

Blake stirred the tea in her hand sitting across from Jaune. "The White Fang started out as a way for Faunus equality to be achieved. I was a big part of it until a change in leadership caused humans to fear us. Then, I left."

Jaune fixed his white armor a bit. "Wait, why're you telling me this? Aren't you afraid I'll tell someone?"

Blake sipped her tea and put it back down in her plate with a clink. "Strangely enough, you're one of the few people I trust not to care whether or not I'm a Faunus. You know exactly what it's like to not live up to a lot of misconception. You have that book of yours, and I have the White Fang."

"Wow...I didn't know you were so...mature under all that gloominess." Jaune laughed in disbelief.

She glared at him again over her tea.

"Uh...heh heh. Sorry." Jaune took on a serious facial expression and placed a gloved hand on Blake's. "Don't ever worry though. I won't tell a soul."

Blake showed the glimmer of a rare smile. "Thank you...Jaune."

 **[You have gained +5 Affection points with |Blake|!]**

"Won't tell anyone what?" Yang appeared.

"Whaa-!" Jaune jumped out of his seat red-faced. "We...we weren't...There's nothing..."

Yang laughed. "Don't worry! I don't care, I'm just glad I found Blake!" The blonde brawler looked to her teammate. "Been looking for you all over. No wonder you've been missing, you've been on a date with Vomit Boy this whole time!"

"I-I-It's not a date!" stuttered Jaune, scared of causing jealousy towards Blake from Yang. "It's-"

"It's cool Jaune." Yang winked. "Secret's safe with me. Now come on Blake, Ruby's getting worried."

She pushed her chair out and stood up. "It was very nice catching up with you Jaune." Blake waved and walked off down the street with Yang.

Jaune looked at them both walking away. His progression in their 'Routes' were proving to be less stat based than he'd hoped, mostly because he wasn't the best at talking to people in general.

"They're both pretty hot huh?" an unfamiliar voice said.

The knight looked up to see a spiky yellow haired teen crouched on a street lamp above the tea shop's out door cafe. The Faunus used his tail to flip down onto the open chair Blake left behind. "You must be pretty lucky if they're both that cute and they like you."

"Uh...aren't you that criminal who snuck into the city?"

He scoffed innocently and placed a hand on his chest. "I'm no criminal...I'm just a humble Faunus on some business from Vacuo. Name's Sun. You?" He slurped tea from a cup he stole from an unsuspecting person nearby using his tail.

Blue eyes moved unconvincingly from Sun's face to the box over his head.

 **Sun Wukong "Mischevious Stowaway" - LV 15**

"Jaune." The blonde shifted himself in his chair. "Can I ask why you want to talk to me?"

Sun responded simply. "You're a student at Beacon right?"

"A team leader."

"Perfect." Sun leaned back in his chair with arms behind his head, still using his tail to sip tea. "Need some help with a job I'm here to pull."

"A job?" Jaune's interest increased. "What kind?"

"The violent kind." Sun's eyebrows jumped up and down. "Since you're a Huntsman...at least in training, I'm hoping to use your abilities to stop a White Fang Dust trade or some such down by the docks tonight if it gets too hot. I was also hoping to ask that total babe who you'd been talking to for help, but since she's gone, you're my next best option."

Jaune still looked unconvinced. "A muscle job? Look I'm already a bodyguard at Tukson's Book Trade. Don't need to be any more of a sellsword."

"Aren't Huntsmen exactly that?"

"Yeah but..." Jaune looked away from and back to Sun quickly. "All right I'll think about it, but I'll pass it along to Blake."

"She the-"

"Yes, the 'total babe.' " Jaune rolled his eyes. "I'll make sure to set up a meeting between you two so you can talk. I might. Emphasis on might, might show up tonight to help with my team."

Sun finished his tea. "But if you're talking to her, why would you come?"

"It's literally my job to ensure the safety of Remnant. Or, it's going to be when I'm licensed as a Huntsman."

"All right then. See ya 'round my friend." Sun ran off and Jaune looked at the setting sun. _'Crap! Tukson needs me to help close up his shop!'_

The boy threw some Lien on the table to pay for the tea and sprinted towards his boss' shop.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

Jaune paced back and forth in team JNPR's bedroom. His teammates were all watching worriedly from sitting on their bunks.

"Jaune if there's something you want to say just say it," Pyrrha said.

"Yeah..." He stopped pacing. "Yeah okay...This guy told me there'd be a Dust...thing at the docks. And that the White Fang'd be there...and-"

"Stop." Nora stood up. "There's something illegal going down and you didn't tell us? Why not?"

"Because we don't have to get involved. Maybe we should contact the authorities or-"

Pyrrha interrupted Jaune. "I don't know if you've noticed this, but the police in Vale can't handle the White Fang. I mean, they've let how many robberies take place? This is what we've been trained for Jaune, what I've trained you for."

"But we'd be put in danger over-"

"Nothing? No, we're going over there now."

Jaune reached out and held her arm. "No."

Pyrrha tensed. "You can't stop us Jaune."

"Yeah, I'm with her." Nora gripped her hammer and Ren nodded behind her.

"You're right, I can't stop you." Jaune nodded slowly. "But we're not going alone. Let's bring the rest of team RWBY with us."

"You mean Yang and Weiss? Ruby and Blake have been missing since dinner," said Nora.

Their team leader contemplated this for a second before being interrupted.

 **[Quest Alert! |Battle at the Docks|: Sun Wukong has hinted at something shady happening at the docks. If you wanna be the Number One Huntsman, you can never back down from a fight!**

 **Objective: Defeat all enemies without your allies suffering serious injury.**

 **Completion Award: +5000 EXP points, Two random perks, and +5 to |STR| and |SPD|**

 **Quest Failure: +0 EXP points. Accept Y/N]**

Jaune picked up his shield. "All right. Let's go then." His fist wrapped tightly around his Crocea Mors' grip when he hit the |Yes| button.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

Roman Torchwick pointed his cane down at Sun with a knocked down Blake behind him, ready to fire. "This is the time...for your last words kid."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" hollered Jaune from the stack of metal boxes above.

"What..." Roman looked upward. "What the hell can one little Hunstman like you do against me and my army?" He raised his arms confidently and dozens of White Fang soldiers cocked their weapons around him.

"Nothing. But with my friends..." Jaune raised his arms too and Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and the rest of team JNPR appeared around him. "I think we can beat you down."

Roman sighed, biting his lip in frustration. "Goddamnit...this could've been so easy."

White Fang members roared and charged as Teams RWBY and JNPR jumped into the fray against them to protect Blake and Sun. Jaune led from the center, slashing away one Faunus away with his sword in a [Quick Swipe].

His friends hacked and attacked, knocking White Fang members and overwhelming them besides being outnumbered. The horde descended and broke in waves against the weapons of the teens.

Blake was all but blurring around Roman as she slashed. One quick attack from Roman set her knocked down again. He chuckled again as the battle raged around him, pointing a coming explosion towards Blake.

Jaune rolled into a ball as he sprinted towards him, and stood between them when he came up from behind Blake.

"Jaune no!" shouted Ruby as she looked up from a grounded White Fang soldier she defeated.

Roman pressed the trigger and the [System] and Jaune's [Power Crystal] activated with his semblance. A white flash of light glowed when Jaune parried the Dust bomb Roman shot at him with his shield and his body had a shimmering white Aura covering to it.

 **[Congratulations! You have learned a new |Melee Skill|: |Aura Parry|!]**

Everything around Jaune absorbed the explosion and he kept glowing white. Jaune charged at Roman and engaged one on one. Strikes were either parried or bounced Jaune from his semblance, and he simply recharged his aura the whole time while his friends made short work of the White Fang around them.

White Fang members saw as Roman himself, their boss was struggling to defeat Jaune, a mere Huntsman in training. Frustration grew in him, and it amounted to a strike that would've knocked any other Huntsman down.

Roman gasped and Jaune smirked. His cane was pressed hard against Jaune's sword. The boy proved stronger, pushing the man back. Roman played dirty with a leg sweep and Jaune landed on his back.

He rolled away and sprinted to avoid an explosion. Jaune's white Aura shone once more when he used |Aura Parry| against another Dust strike, absorbing the attack as he ran towards Roman. Roman blocked more attacks from Jaune's sword while moving back from their speed.

Roman just barely held his ground against the slashes from Crocea Mors. One in particular knocked him back. Roman grunted and struck back but Jaune parried it away with his shield, but a White Fang soldier blasted Jaune in the shoulder with a bullet.

The knight staggered back. Roman saw his men being overwhelmed and gripped his cane in anger. Yang avoided a thrust from a sword-wielding White Fang member and sent him flying across the dock with a punch as she guided the blade away with her other hand.

Her friends used this as a rallying point to fight harder, and the White Fang soon were fleeing.

Jaune saw Roman run onto an airship with other White Fang members running too onto others.

"Yeah that's right losers!" taunted Nora. "Run back to your mommies!"

Pyrrha laughed at this and Jaune looked at Blake and his other friends. "Hey guys, you all right?"

"We're fine Jaune." Ruby made Crescent Rose shrink back into its smaller form.

Jaune checked the [System Notification] that came soon after.

 **[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the quest |Battle at the Docks|, and have leveled up as a result!]**

 **[LV 13- LV 16 (324/3200 EXP)]**

 **[You have currently 15 skill points ready to be invested in your |Stats|, would you like to use them now? Y/N** **]**

He hit |No| as he didn't want to be messing with the interface as his friends were all cheery and congratulatory around him. He missed the next notification, however.

 **[You have attained two new perks for completing this quest!]**

 **[Perks:**

 **-Headstrong: (+10 to |STA| in combat)**

 **-Speedy: (+10 to |SPD| when using |Melee Skills|) ]**

Ruby ran to him and hugged him, followed by Blake and Pyrrha. He hugged them back and smiled, Pyrrha speaking first. "That was amazing Jaune! You did great!"

He cleared his throat. "Yeah...thanks."

Vale Police showed up and the students all sat on wooden boxes near the dock's entrance as Glynda Goodwitch walked up to them crossly. "What were you all thinking!?"

They all looked at Jaune. "H-He-Hey. Don't look at me, it was Sun's idea."

"But you brought us all here." corrected Weiss.

"Mr. Arc, you are the one responsible for placing two teams of Huntsmen and Huntresses in training in danger?" Glynda crossed her arms.

Nora placed her hand on her mouth. "Ooooh!"

Jaune nodded. "I believed we had to do what was necessary to stop the Dust movement."

Glynda frowned...but then smiled genuinely. "Mr. Arc...you should be proud of what you did here tonight. It takes a wise Huntsman to refrain from fighting... but a stronger one to win."

"You should've seen him Ms. Goodwitch!" Ruby flew up to her with her smile and raised hands. "Torchwick fired explosions at Jaune and he absorbed them! A giant white light went 'Whoooosh!' and he was completely fine!"

As she giggled, Glynda nodded and laughed quietly. "Well Mr. Arc, if the wonderful Ms. Rose is proud of your semblance, then you should be too."

Pyrrha crossed her legs from atop the wooden box she sat on. "Best. Leader. Ever."

Ren and Nora agreed in hums and nods.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

Jaune sat on his rooftop with Pyrrha, the two sitting side by side and staring off into the night.

"Professor Ozpin was right, the view is really nice," noted Pyrrha as Blake joined them and sat down next to Jaune on the side that wasn't occupied by Pyrrha. He started feeling nervous as he wondered if Pyrrha or Blake would start feeling jealous of each other at some point.

Neither questioned the other.

He gripped Pyrrha's fingers and interlocked his with hers. Pyrrha noticed this and started feeling warmer towards her sparring partner and team leader, resting her head on his shoulder. Blake did the same soon after, and Jaune smiled as he felt both girls begin to doze off on his broad shoulders.

 **[You have shared a tender moment with your friends and progressed farther down |Romantic Routes|]**

 **[You have gained +10 Affection points on the |Pyrrha| |Romantic Route|!]**

 **[You have gained +10 Affection points on the |Blake| |Romantic Route|!]**

Ozpin cleared his throat and the three students stood up and gasped. "Headmaster Ozpin!" they shouted.

"Hello children." Ozpin smiled with his hands on his cane. "Would you mind if I spoke to Mr. Arc?"

"O-Of course sir!" Pyrrha nodded and Blake followed her away.

Ozpin walked next to Jaune and the two started speaking. "Ms. Goodwitch told me you activated a part of your semblance tonight. Is that true?"

"Y-Yes sir. I absorbed explosions from Roman Torchwick."

Ozpin kept making eye contact with Jaune. "That's quite a peculiar ability. I wonder what other surprises your semblance has in store. As well as the surprises you have in store for us."

"I'll keep fighting to protect who I have to sir." responded Jaune. "I always will."

Ozpin nodded and walked away speaking. "Again, I have no doubt you will Mr. Arc."

Jaune stared back at the look the rooftop offered, seeing Beacon's shimmering lights from below. He was sure he'd continue training, ready for whatever the next day might bring.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **Author's Note:**

 **So that wraps up the first Volume. I remember how in the Jaundice episodes, Cardin straight up punched Jaune in the face when his semblance was activated and it almost broke his fist. I'm still curious as to why RWBY never built on this, so I expanded upon that here.**

 **Sorry if the chapter was really short, but I couldn't really skip over the ending to Volume 1, or extend this arc much longer.**

 **Anyway I wanted to thank you all so much for supporting this story. We're almost at 600 followers and approaching 500 favorites and I really owe it to all you guys. I first started RWBY around...2017, and have been following since. I really enjoy the series and the characters, and especially Jaune's character.**

 **So again, thank you all, see you next time.**


	4. Vale's New Guests

**~000~**

 _Chapter Three- Vale's New Guests_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

 **~000~**

"What's that? The fifth one today?" Mercury rolled his eyes at his partner's mischief, her chuckle rising as she flaunted the wallet she stole. "That old guy didn't even notice you, you're just showing off at this point."

Emerald put it away. "Yeah, you're just jealous..."

The two kept walking down the streets of Vale. "I can't believe this idiot decided to defect from the White Fang. I mean who does that?"

"Idiots. Just as you said." cooly murmured Emerald.

As the duo moved closer and closer to Tukson's Book Trade, the blonde knight keeping it safe continued reading on his families colossal impact on Remnant's Hunting tradition. Tukson scratched his black sideburns. "That's about the fifth time you've read that kid. Got an entire bookstore to choose from by the way, why choose that one?"

"It's my favorite." Jaune shifted himself in the chair by the door which served as his bodyguards post.

Tukson looked at the blonde boy. "Why would that be?"

"It's about every Huntsman and Huntress who ever lived..." Jaune flipped a page over. "There's one who sticks out to me as maybe among the best...Named the Grimm Reaper...Says here she hasn't been seen in years..."

"You don't ever get worried you might end up like her?" wondered Tukson.

Jaune shook his head. "Not really. I can't remember ever wanting anything other than to be a Huntsman."

Tukson looked down at his feet. "Kid...I haven't been entirely honest with you...I've hired you because there's some...pretty bad people who've wanted me dead for a while. And...I'd like to thank you for helping protect my store and myself."

Jaune understood. "Yeah, I get it. But hey, I'm willing to help no matter what boss."

Tukson smiled. "Hey...kid...I want you to have this." Jaune watched as his boss walked around the counter and right up to his chair. "Here...my mother gave it to me when I was just a Kit." Jaune raised the necklace's leather strap and observed its silver pendant, the shape of which was a circle with lines creating a diamond shape in it. "It's an old Faunus good luck charm."

 **[Congratulations! You have obtained: Tukson's Necklace!]**

Jaune smiled as he put it on, "Thanks...it means a lot."

As Tukson walked back to behind his counter, Jaune investigated further on his new item by touching his white shard forged into Crocea Mors.

 **[Tukson's Necklace. A shiny silver pendant your boss Tukson gave to you saying it was a symbol for good luck.]**

Jaune went further into the [System], blue eyes focused as he delved.

 **[Boost I: The |Shard|'s synergy effect with the |Gamer|'s stat boosts increases upon his or her improvement with |Melee Skills| primarily as well as other combat abilities. Each new boost unlocks a new layer of bonuses when in combat. Current Boost (I): +5 to |STA| and |SPD| when using |Melee Skills| properly. Hit |here| to define proper |Melee Skill use|.]**

His finger hit the |Here| button on his |Interface|.

 **[Proper Melee Skill Usage: Each melee skill has a progression system that goes from 0-100 as |Stats| do, before unlocking the next level. Separated from |Melee Basics (Defensive/Offensive)|, melee skills require precise timing and effective technique to progress and add to the |Crystal|'s |Boost|. Current Melee Skill list:**

 **-Super Slash: 13/100**

 **-Double Hack: 14/100**

 **-Aura Parry: 17/100]**

Jaune was a little disappointed he had only discovered two of these |Melee Skills|, but he was sure that with enough training he could discover more of them. He was also disappointed to find out that Tukson's necklace had no effect on the |System|, but he read in a book somewhere that the only magic items left in Remnant were blessed by the Gods themselves so he assumed that was why.

As the knight moved from the [System] to his favorite book, Emerald and Mercury approached. The light green-haired young woman froze when she saw Jaune through the window, extending a hand to stop Mercury. "What?" he asked.

"Fuck!" hissed Emerald under her breath with a look thrown aside. "Should have seen this coming."

"What is it?" asked Mercury to his partner.

Emerald glared at Jaune's shield by his knee through the glass of Tukson's Book trade. "There's a kid in the shop."

"So?" snorted Mercury.

"So, he's a Beacon student. Cinder won't let us kill them this early." Emerald responded. "It's the kid Roman was talking about, said him and a bunch of his friends from Beacon stopped a massive dust movement."

"Well great." Mercury groaned. "So now what do we do now?"

Emerald walked away in the direction of their hideout. "We talk to Cinder, figure something out with her."

Jaune kept sitting by his seat at the door, watching cars go by. Time seemed to speed up, he'd check his |Interface|, read, and stare off into the street as people walked across the glass. Eventually, Jaune checked his scroll for the time and spoke to his boss. "Hey, Mr. Tukson? I gotta go get registered for the new semester...can't be late."

"Oh all right then...help me close up shop."

Jaune assisted Tukson in locking up the store and putting all the books in his store away before Jaune headed back towards his school. As Jaune made his way towards Beacon walking down the streets of Vale, he got a new |Notification|.

 **[Congratulations! After having read for hours, you have accumulated enough knowledge to improve your stats. You have gained +2 to |INT| as a result!]**

 _'Huh...who would've guessed that reading makes you smarter?'_ Jaune said sarcastically in his head.

 **~000~**

Jaune sat on a bench overlooking the grassy area around Beacon, seeing many of his fellow students gab and catch up as he placed his hands in the pockets of his jeans. He saw a familiar blonde girl jogging towards him with her pup on a leash down the cement path.

"Hey Jaune!" sang Yang as she ran by before stopping to speak with him.

Jaune cleared his throat as he looked up at her. "H-Hey Yang. How was your break?"

"Great, Ruby and I spent it at Patch. You ever been?"

He shook his head. "No."

"What about you, what did you do?"

Jaune cleared his throat. "Played some video games...trained..." he muttered one part under his breath. "Which is pretty much my life for me at this point..."

Yang rubbed the top of Zwei's head. "Really, what games?"

"Oh, you know...stuff..." mumbled Jaune.

"Well whenever I play a game with Zwei, I always make sure to use the _paw_ -se button. Eh? Eh?" Yang referenced her family dog as Jaune strained a smile.

The yellow-haired boy couldn't help himself before bursting out loud with laughter, even getting Yang to chuckle a little as he murmured quietly again. "Ah...puns...why did I laugh so much?"

After Yang smiled at Jaune's reaction, a pair of |Notification|s appeared.

 **[Congratulations! You've shown your bombshell of a friend that you liked her joke and unlocked the |Romantic Route|: Yang!]**

 **[You have gained +5 Affection points with |Yang|! (Affection Points: 12/100. Current relationship: Platonically Blonde Friends)]**

Jaune tilted his head up from the |Notification| and it recognized he was no longer looking at it, the blue panel visible to only him disappearing. As Yang spoke to him regarding a multitude of things she was interested in, something lingered in Jaune's head.

If the |System| allowed him to accrue 'relationship points' with various girls as he got to know them better, did it allow him to date multiple girls at once? What really bothered him would be the potential jealousy that could be caused between people he had a lot of respect and admiration for, needless trouble being stirred up really didn't seem necessary to him.

What would be really awful to him would be if jealousy caused more-

"Jaune?...Jaune?" Yang's light voice drew it's way back into Jaune's attention. "Jaune you listening?"

He shook himself awake out of his thoughts, smiling and turning to the kind girl sitting beside him at the bench. "Er...sorry, I dozed off for a second...what were you saying?"

She shrugged and leaned back with a shrug. "Meh...nothing." she sniffed and Jaune blinked.

"Um...I'm sorry if I lost track of what you were talking to me about..." said Jaune apologetically. "I was just-"

"Sh."

He was taken aback by this. "W-What?"

"Just listen Jaune." Yang kept closing her lilac eyes and rested her arms behind her head.

Assuming it to be relaxing like she did, Jaune closed his eyes and listened to the quiet sounds of Beacon around him with her. Birds twittered in the trees placed around them, students chattered as they walked around and got ready for the new semester, and Jaune enjoyed listening to it with her.

After a minute or so of listening, Yang opened her eyes and spoke. "Sometimes...after I'm done training by myself, I come here when I bring Zwei around for a walk. I don't talk to anyone very much, I just listen, to everything I guess."

Jaune made eye contact with her. "Why?"

"I've known Ruby my whole life pretty much. Blake is...well Blake, and Weiss is...Weiss."

"Wait you don't like talking to your own team?" Jaune's blue eyes widened.

She shook her head. "It's not like that at all. They're like my sisters but, it's just...I like talking to new people sometimes...we become so reliant on our own teams sometimes but...maybe if they co-operated more we could improve teamwork on a larger scale..." Yang shook her head at her own thoughts. "Sorry...I probably sound pretty stupid."

"No...that's a great idea actually." disagreed Jaune. "I remember when we stopped Torchwick from moving Dust around and we did it together. I think we can have a greater chance of success if teams worked together instead of apart...I mean...I just never really thought about it before."

Yang smiled. "Yeah...Yeah, thanks."

 **[Congratulations, you have genuinely established a stronger connection with your friend and gained +5 Affection points on the |Yang| |Romantic Route|!]**

Mercury, Cinder, Neo, and Emerald all appeared wearing Beacon Academy uniforms. "Hey we don't know where our dorms are, do you-"

If Yang's reflexes weren't finely tuned from years of combat training, Zwei would've burst right from her side and sunk his fangs into Mercury's leg. Her hands tightened around his leash, and the Corgi pup barked so loudly it drew the attention of other students.

Neo actually found this display of fury towards her to be rather endearing, and smirked at him with her new un-recognizable appearance while her friends took a normal step back, seeing Zwei's teeth and how the fur on the back of his neck was standing straight up. Cinder didn't feel threatened in the slightest but pretended to be along with her colleagues to appear so.

Yang soothed her pet as she ran her hands across Zwei's fur, the pup growling with bared fangs as she did so. "Shh...it's okay boy, they're just new here...it's okay Zwei...it's okay...who's a good boy?" she looked up at the group of new students, her pet still growling at them. "Sorry, he's just never like this! New students have their own separate dorms a floor above the regular ones. You can talk to Ms. Goodwitch if you have any questions, she usually helps people settle in."

"Thanks," Emerald said as she walked away with her friends.

As the moved along the path, Zwei looked after them with a long growl and Jaune mumbled. "They seem...weird to you?"

"Pretty normal looking to me, but that short girl looked pretty...short?"

Jaune looked off after them and saw the girl with the light green hair walking off towards the buildings of the school. Emerald turned back and waved, looking at the blonde boy with her beautiful red eyes and a smile.

 _'Wow.'_ Jaune blinked as he stared at her walking away blankly. _'That girl is absolutely stunning...'_

"Uh...hello?...Jaune?"

He cleared his throat. "Sorry. I dozed off again."

Yang leaned back and raised a leg over her knee with a slight smirk. "I don't know...that one girl seemed to be really pretty."

Jaune bit his lip tightly. _'Damn...can I lose affection points?... Well, Yang does seem to be on the flirtatious side. Maybe this is the point?'_ He nodded slowly. "Er...y-yeah...maybe." He looked back to Yang. "I didn't mean anything by it though."

Her smile widened. "So...what does that mean?" she furrowed her yellow eyebrow for a quick second.

Jaune pressed his hands to his head. _'Holy...I am horrible at talking to girls!'_ Jaune started muttering. "That I didn't want you to think that I didn't find our conversation interesting."

"Right so you dozing off a total of three times during it wouldn't lead me to believe that?"

Jaune avoided the calm haze of her lavender eyes. "Um...well I...got a short attention span...in class in stuff..."

Yang started laughing loudly, making Jaune un-tense as she punched him lightly on the arm. "Wow...you can get really apologetic sometimes can't you?... I was messing with you the whole time! I don't care if you doze off, I do it a ton!"

Her fellow blonde smiled. "R-Really?"

She moved her head back and nodded. "Oh yeah, have you heard Weiss nag? It's like I'm class again with Mr. Port. Jeez, blah blah blah, and I just start snoring."

Jaune couldn't help but smile at how Yang acted with him, she was so...relaxed with him. Not in a way that felt forced at all but in a manner that let him express himself freely without being judged in the slightest. He fixed his posture while sitting on the bench next to her. "Yeah...well, I've been busy with a lot of stuff lately...haven't got much sleep either."

"I can relate. I mean, I only pay attention to whatever isn't mind-numbingly dull." Yang stood up and Zwei followed as Cinder and her group were far enough away that he no longer was growling. As they walked back to the school, Yang kept speaking. "I'm gonna drop off Zwei at the dorm before we all get together for breakfast, Ruby said there was something important she wanted to tell us."

"Hey Yang?"

The girl nodded as she kept walking her dog down the cement path. "Mhm?"

"I often spar with Pyrrha a lot for practice, but I think you're really good at fighting so...can we...find a time to do that then?"

Yang murmured. "Yeah...don't see why not."

She took off down ahead as she hid her smirk and Jaune received another notification.

 **[Congratulations, you have gained +5 Affection points on the |Yang| |Romantic Route|!]**

Jaune shook his head. _'Wow, I guess I'm better at this game then I thought...maybe just showing her I'm interested is enough to get her attention. Either way, I'm pretty new at this whole girl thing.'_

 **~000~**

"Hey Ren, is that another novel?" asked Pyrrha as she saw him reading again at the cafeteria table teams JNPR and RWBY shared in their school uniforms.

Ren shook his head as he flipped another page, speaking in his calm voice. "It's an old textbook on software and CCT technology. I don't know why but Professor Oobleck recommended I read it after my grades last semester."

"You plan on being an engineer?" Jaune wondered as he saw Nora toss small bits of food into Yang's mouth.

Ren shrugged and Jaune could've sworn he saw Yang leaning her head on her arm and smiling at him one second, but the second he looked back at her she was continuing to catch food in her mouth that Nora threw at her. Jaune looked down at his lap for a second, wondering if Yang really was just naturally better at flirting than he was...or if he was just terrible at it.

His thoughts were interrupted when Weiss and Nora started throwing food at each other. The chaos devolved into an all-out battle of food between teams JNPR and RWBY.

Nora sang from atop her stack of tables. "I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

Ruby gripped her juice box. "Justice will be swift! Justice will be painful! It will be delicious!"

Team RWBY rallied behind her and Yang used turkeys as sort of gauntlets. She started running towards Jaune who flicked up a soup pot lid with his foot and used it as a shield, deciding to use a baguette as a sword.

Yang would've knocked Jaune down with a well-placed roundhouse to his temple if he hadn't parried it with his pot lid. Ren appeared wielding leeks as knives and attacked Yang only to be uppercut into the ceiling by her turkey covered fist.

"I'll avenge you man!" Jaune held a kick high on his 'shield', seeing Yang's fine leg hanging on it he looked downward after making eye contact with Yang...who promptly spun into another roundhouse to punish him for looking where he shouldn't have.

After blocking a series of powerfully fast strikes from Yang, Jaune knocked her aside with a shield bash. "Aha!" he raised his baguette in victory, before his smile slid into a frown. "Ah...crap."

Weiss accelerated across the cafeteria using a swordfish as a rapier and sent Jaune sliding back across the floor that was slippery from all the tossed around food. Pyrrha jumped over a kneeling and sliding Jaune and took his place who stared down Ruby, the girl using a cafeteria tray as a skateboard, sliding across cafteria tables.

All Pyrrha had to do was channel her semblance and Ruby was sent flying into the cafeteria wall. As Ruby groaned quietly, she complained. "Cheap shot...Pyrrha."

"Hey that tray was metal, what'd you expect?" answered Pyrrha.

Turning from speaking to a defeated Ruby, Pyrrha engaged Blake with baguettes. Acting quickly enough to not get hit, Pyrrha willed a metal vending machine to smash against Blake who promptly did a flip to avoid it and continued fighting with her.

Jaune wanted to intervene but the tip of Weiss' 'sword' led him to do otherwise, avoiding thrusts and slashes while returning a few of his own. The fighting was pretty much even between the four of them, until Nora broke off a metal pole and speared a watermelon with it to create a makeshift hammer.

Blake managed to outfight Pyrrha and leg sweep her through outstanding effort and the lack of Pyrrha's use of her semblance, before suddenly Nora spun around and knocked her away with one swing.

Weiss took the tip of Jaune's baguette right into her stomach. Distracted from the stagger, Weiss failed to land a hack on Jaune's shoulder because he used his soup lid correctly and counter-attacked at the same time as his block. The Schnee heiress looked up from the floor too see Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha all stand over her calmly. She still kept her head off the floor, refusing to get her perfect white ponytail dirty. Weiss sighed loudly. "Good game?..."

Glynda burst into the cafeteria with a growl before a single wave of her riding crop cleaned up the giant mess her students made. "Your form was sloppy children." The students looked at each other before Ren fell back from the sky with a loud yell. This kept the air tense as Glynda smiled at a certain blonde. "Except for you Mr. Arc, you were excellent."

They all burst into laughter as Ozpin nodded approvingly at Glynda's acceptance of their antics. "That's rather unlike you Ms. Goodwitch."

Glynda turned back to her boss. "Oh no, I'm furious." she turned back with a sigh to them. "But it's not their fault really, they're still young I suppose."

 **~000~**

"I still don't get why we're here." Mercury paced in team CNME (Cinnamon's) new dorm. "All this waiting and sneaking around gets me so antsy."

"Patience Mercury," said Cinder. "Neo here is working with us to ensure everything goes as planned."

Emerald kept playing with her sword pistols, spinning them around her hand skilfully like butterfly knives. "That blonde kid though...he could be a problem. Same thing with the silver eyed girl."

Cinder laughed quietly at her follower's joke. "Don't worry dear, no one knows who Neo is under her disguise, and we are just a group of students from Haven."

"What about the Faunus?" Mercury put his hands on his hips. "Is no one worried about that?"

"The White Fang is firmly in the hands of our associates, besides when the plan really gets underway they'll be right next to us." Cinder turned to Neo. "Besides, what in the world can stop us?"

Neo nodded in agreement as Emerald flipped her knife gun back into its smaller form. "Why aren't we killing him again?" asked the light-green haired girl.

"Because if Jaune Arc realizes his boss is dead it'll draw too much attention where none is needed. Everything is normal until it isn't right?"

Mercury and Emerald looked at each other in complete agreement before Mercury rubbed his chin. "I thought Arcs were supposed to be the greatest fighters of all time, but that Jaune guy just seemed like a goofy dork."

"Again, nothing matters as long as we don't draw attention to ourselves." Cinder said.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **So I got a request to include Jaune's current stats and routes at the end of every chapter so I guess I can do that from now on regardless if I include them in the actual chapter or not.**

 **LV 16/0 Skill Points**

 **STR: 36/100**

 **SPD: 24/100**

 **DEX: 30/100**

 **STA: 32/100**

 **INT: 15/100**

 **WIS: 17/100**

 **LUK: 12/100**

 **~0**

 **[Blake: 33/100 (Platonic Friends)]**

 **[Ruby: 13/100 (Socially Awkward Team Leaders)]**

 **[Pyrrha: 23/100 (Mutual Friends)]**

 **[Weiss: 10/100 (Rejected Crush)]**

 **[Yang: 22/100 (Platonically Blonde Friends)]**

 **[Glynda: 10/100 (Friendly Acquaintances)]**

 **~0**

 **I'm going to breaking up Volume two into chunks that focus on Jaune's training and romance before Volume 3, where this revamp gets really underway. I got caught up again on Volume 2 and in short, this is what happens in terms of important events. Cinder infiltrates Beacon, infects the CCT with a virus, there's a fight on a train with the White Fang, Grimm invade before being thrashed and it ends.** **I will definitely be taking my time with the third Volume where I will be changing a lot.**

 **What I'm going to be including is Jaune getting stronger and developing his relationships and then just jumping into Volume 3.**

 **Thank you all so much again for the support on this story it is very much appreciated!**

 **Anyways thank you all so much for the support again, and I will see you next update!**


	5. Reading into It

**~000~**

 _Chapter Four: Reading into It_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

"Mistral's borders may have been long assailed by the Grimm and other forces that would harm it." General James Ironwood's hologram had a recording that echoed across the vast crowd that was listening. "But now Atlas and her technology have come to its aid and will protect its good citizens!"

The crowd gasped at the display of Atlesian Knights, which were marching out with large clanking noises.

"That is not all we have brought with us here from Atlas...introducing! The Atlesian Paladin!"

Ren and Ruby, both enthusiasts of all things tech were completely astonished by the impressive model the hologram displayed as the crowd cheered even louder. Jaune crossed his arms and looked at Ren. "Can't say I've ever seen you so blown away by anything."

Ren shook his head out of staring at the Paladin's hologram. "Yeah...nevermind." Jaune tapped Ruby's shoulder as she kept gawking at the Paladin. "Hey...Ruby?"

"Wha...huh?" Ruby looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"I'm gonna go to work. See you 'round okay?"

"Er. All right?"

Jaune nodded to Ren as he walked off to Tukson's book trade. "Hey Mr. Tukson, how're you doing this morning?"

"...Fair." Tukson murmured as he put his newspaper down. "How's the semester going?"

"It's going fine." Jaune pulled up his chair by the door and sat down, tapping the crystal built into Crocea Mors. Jaune fiddled with the |System| for a little trying to find some information on his semblance to no avail. Even after activating it in the forest against CRDL, he still had no idea what it was.

Jaune looked up from tapping his |Interface|, feeling like he was being watched. Melanie and Miltia Malachite were sipping tea calmly across the street in a cafe as they glared at him from over their teacups.

Jaune drew his scroll slowly and messaged Ruby. **Getting some weird vibes from these women looking at me. Thinking they're trouble, can you come to Tukson's bookshop?**

Ruby took a few seconds to message back. **Sure.**

"Hi, welcome to Tukson's book trade." Jaune stood up and looked at the duo of women who entered the store.

"Speaking of him..." Melanie tried to look around Jaune. "Where is your boss?"

"Think the bathroom..." Jaune noticed how he feeling slightly threatened by two very attractive females who weren't nearly as tall as him. "What do you want with him?"

"Business." Miltia tilted her head slightly to the side. "Business that doesn't concern you."

Jaune swallowed. "I'm sorry?"

"We're kindly asking you to leave." Melanie approached, almost driving Jaune to step back. "We won't ask again."

Jaune's fist cracked against his brown fingerless gloves. "You here to kill Mr. Tukson?"

Melanie gave Jaune a smile that made him want to slice Crocea Mors across her. "Perceptive."

Miltia armed her fists with long blades and Melanie had already been wearing knives from her boots by the time Jaune noticed this. His blue eyes widened and adrenaline set into his system.

"Mr. Tukson run!" Jaune shouted at the top of his lungs as he drew his sword and shield.

Melanie threw snap kicks tipped with knives at Jaune who stepped back and absorbed them with his shield. Jaune slashed and Miltia rolled away, backflipping over a bookcase as her twin attacked with more kicks.

Jaune stepped back in sync with Melanie as she tried to use her kicks to kill him to have Jaune block all of them with his shield.

Jaune shield bashed Melanie back to get her to stagger not a second later, but Miltia appeared at Jaune's side and was about to claw his face in half. However, Tukson appeared and threw her across his shop to a bookcase.

Glass was sent flying as Miltia smashed against the side of her target's shop.

She crumpled against it but rolled away in time to avoid an entire bookshelf Tukson threw at her, rejoining the fight against Tukson and his bodyguard. Jaune was given no time to react when Miltia and Melanie ganged up on him with a combination of deadly kicks and slashes .

Jaune was forced to move back and parry Miltia's slashes with his shield and use his sword to avoid Melanie's kicks.

Tukson's bared his claws and fought Miltia with a fury only a person who knew his life was on the line would. While Tukson was twice her size and had thrice her strength, Miltia was fast enough to avoid being smashed by his punches or cut apart by his claws.

Jaune preserved enough energy from playing defensively against Miltia and Melanie and used [Aura Parry] to absorb a double strike from both twins at the same time.

Miltia and Melanie were shocked to see the blonde still standing after the sheer power of the combined blows and Jaune cut across the air to set both twins doing backflips back across the store to avoid it. Jaune jumped on a bookshelf and the twins joined him.

Tukson lacked the reaction time to join the three of them in the fight at this point and instead watched Jaune engage them by himself.

Fighting out of a triangle on top of the bookshelves from their positions, Jaune dashed forward to go for a thrust but Melanie jumped to kick at the same time only for both to miss. The moment Jaune landed and turned around, Miltia came at him slashing but Jaune knelt and lifted Miltia onto his shield by her stomach, by dashing forward to close the distance between them.

 **[Congratulations! You have learned a new |Melee Skill|: |Shield Throw|!]**

Using all of his |STR| stat, Jaune sent her flying upward toward the ceiling with a loud crash. Melanie kept her distance with feints, but Jaune went into to strike with multiple [Quick Swipes].

Melanie dropped down below the bookshelves into the floor of Tukson's shop and kicked out the entire bookshelf from underneath a slashing Jaune.

He jumped at the right time and dropped down to a collapsed bookshelf and blocked a few of Melanie's kicks, leaving multiple scratches on his shield from the blades she attached to her boots. Jaune timed a grab at the right time when Melanie went for a roundhouse to his body and he swept her leg out from under her.

Melanie crashed on the ground hard next to the scattered books and Jaune had the tip of Crocea Mors an inch from Melanie's eye, his boot pressed against her chest, forcing air out of her and not giving her a way to move, completely submitting her as Pyrrha trained him to.

"J-Jaune..." Tukson's bloodied voice growled out.

Miltia had managed to recover from being smashed against the ceiling by Jaune and had defeated Tukson by how much more speed she had than him.

Jaune never realized in his whole fight with the Malachite twins that one of them was about to kill Tukson when he defeated Melanie. Miltia kept pressing her claws against Tukson's throat. Melanie was completely defeated, and while it didn't look like Jaune was about to hurt her, she was still at his mercy.

Miltia kept staring at Jaune as she still held Tukson's life at the tip of her claws.

Jaune just stared at her calmly, not uttering a word.

There was a bit of silence but Ruby had already slipped a bullet right through Miltia's shoulder from across the street. She staggered back and stopped pressing her blade to Tukson's throat when Ruby flew into the store and transformed Crescent Rose from a sniper rifle into a scythe as she ran.

Miltia was already weakened from being shot by her, and Ruby was fast enough to swing her scythe so quickly Miltia blinked and she'd already been defeated.

Jaune watched how Ruby spun around after in a circle after completing her strike on the counter of Tukson's shop, transforming Crescent Rose back into its smaller form. _'Wow...that was amazing.'_

 **[Congratulations! After fighting, you have leveled up as a result!]**

 **[LV 16 - LV 17 (121/3400 EXP)]**

 **[You currently have 5 skill points ready to be invested into your |Stats|, would you like to use them now? Y/N]**

Jaune kept pressing Melanie to the floor of the shop and lifted her up roughly as the Vale police arrived. He then attended to his |Interface| and hit the |No| button.

After Melanie and Miltia were taken away into custody, Tukson was helped up off the ground by Ruby and Jaune. "H-How'd you learn to fight like that?" Tukson asked as he wiped his own blood off his face.

"Pyrrha Nikos." said Jaune. "You all right Mr. Tukson?"

Tukson chuckled as he sat on the counter of his store. "I'm fine. Th-Thanks for saving my life you two...especially you. You deserve a pay raise." He nodded to Jaune.

"Don't mention it boss...it's my job." Jaune nodded back as he set to cleaning up the giant mess the recent fight caused.

Ruby helped him as she spoke to him. "So who were those people and why were they trying to kill your boss?"

"I don't know." Jaune watched as Tukson bandaged himself back up on his counter. "He told me people wanted him dead. He didn't say who. But honestly, this is what I signed up for...defending him."

"That's very selfless of you Jaune." Ruby and Jaune shared a smile and Jaune received a notification.

 **[You have gained +5 Affection points with |Ruby|!]**

After cleaning up the store, Jaune cleaned all the scratches the best he could off of his shield.

"Kid...I can't thank you enough."

Jaune looked up at Tukson from shining his shield at his chair. "There's no need. I can't become a Huntsman without defending people I guess...it's what being a Huntsman's all about."

A few minutes passed, and Jaune took to reading with Ruby.

"J-Jaune..." Ruby sat on the windowsill by which Jaune guarded the door, picking up the book he always read. "All these yellow page markers...are these all records of your family?"

"Yeah..."

"I can't imagine that amount of pressure."

Jaune smiled a bit at his friend. "Ah...it's just a name."

"You're living up to it Jaune." Ruby smiled at him as she left the shop.

Tukson cleared his throat. "Hey kid, we gotta close up shop."

"Sure thing boss."

 **~000~**

Jaune opened the door to the shop surprised to not see Tukson. Every morning when he started work his boss was there. "Mr. Tukson!?...boss!?" the boy called out. He looked around the shop he had cleaned up the night before to see everything perfectly in order as he left it.

He pulled up his chair by the door next to the windowsill and picked up his favorite book 'The Heroes of Remnant' but when he opened it a note slipped out.

 _'Hm?'_

Jaune stood up and knelt to pick it up, reading it as he knelt. After scanning over it for a little, he sat back down in his chair.

 _Dear Jaune,_

 _I'm sorry to leave without telling you but after yesterday I'm afraid I can no longer stay in Vale. I never told you this, but the White Fang has been after me ever since I deserted. I feel like putting an innocent life at stake out of selfishness is something that is quite wrong._

 _It's been heartwarming to see someone like you who wants to be a Huntsman come in every day and risk his life in full knowledge of doing so, and just pick up his book every day like it was just a regular job. At only seventeen no less. It's ironic you read that book every day because one day you'll have a page in it along with the rest of your family I'm sure._

 _And you won't just be Hunstman like they were. You'll be the best of the best. They told me talent and skill was better than anything when I grew up in Menagerie. After meeting you, you've proved them wrong. Grit and effort's what a hero needs...and damn you got it._

 _I've decided to leave you the store, as I can't really take it with me and it's all I have to pay you with. The papers I've left you on my desk should give you full ownership. I wish I could pay you more, but what I'll tell you may be much more important._

 _Never give up on your dream of being Huntsman. You've told me it's what wanted you to take up the_

 _I can't tell you were I'll be staying, but I'm sure we'll meet again. And Jaune, I've never met someone as loyal as you._

 _~Goodbye, Tukson_

Jaune stayed there reading it over and over again, sitting on the floor as he rested his back against a bookshelf.

"Jaune?...Tukson?" Blake opened the door to the shop as the bell sang. Jaune put the paper down with a blank expression on his face, staying silent as Blake walked up to him. "Jaune?...what's wrong?"

Jaune frowned. "He's gone...he left Blake..."

"Wh-Why?"

He blinked slowly. "Someone sent two girls to attack him yesterday. I fought them off, but he left..." He turned to Blake who sat down next to him. "He left when he knew I would've still guarded the shop for him. He knew I would've fought for him...and he left anyway."

"He cared about you Jaune." explained Blake. "Otherwise he'd have stayed. You weren't just a guard dog to him."

"That's what I wanted to be to him. To protect him." Jaune said.

Blake saw the letter Jaune held and motioned to hold it. He obliged and she read it quickly with her calm amber eyes. "Jaune..." Blake sighed as she put the note down. "I know people who don't care about others. I know them because I've run from them."

"Who?"

Blake ignored the question by continuing to speak without answering. "Tukson is not like them. Trust me. He wanted you to protect people without a choice, not like him." she stood up and offered him a hand. "Learn from him...move on."

Jaune nodded slowly as he took Blake's hand and stood up. "He...he left me the shop. What should I do with it?"

"It seems like there was only one book you read in the whole shop anyways right?" she turned to the book Jaune kept on the windowsill. "It was here when I came in here last semester."

"Huh...great memory...er, yeah. I read one other too." Jaune shrugged.

"Which one?"

Jaune mumbled. "Er...A Heroic Blade."

Blake tried her best not to snicker. "The children's book? My dad read me that all the time when I was little."

"Yeah well...it never gets old," admitted Jaune. "So what should I do about the books?"

Blake turned to the shop. "Well...you could give them all to me?"

"What?"

She put a hand over her mouth. "Sorry! I just said that out loud didn't I?"

Jaune laughed quietly. "Er...yeah. But it's all right I guess."

"Y-You don't have to give me the store Jaune."

He shrugged. "Well, I don't really know what else to do with it."

Blake raised her hand and spoke. "So this part of the store is mostly romance, and I've read most of it. But I haven't read the other part really. How about we come in here and read every once in a while?"

"Or...I could...sell all the books." Jaune murmured beneath his breath.

Blake glared at him.

"Or...or not you know."

This made Blake smiled and Jaune ignored what he knew was coming.

 **[You have gained +5 Affection points with |Blake|!]**

Jaune shrugged. "Then again, I don't know what the rent on this place is like so I think I'll just donate them all to Beacon."

"That too." agreed Blake.

Jaune decided to take two books with him on his way back to Beacon, 'The Heroes of Remnant' and the children's novel, 'A Heroic Blade.'

 **~000~**

Reading on a windowsill in Beacon, Jaune flipped a page in 'A Heroic Blade' and saw Yang appear next to him. "Hey, what're you reading?"

He stood up straighter. "Er...a kid's book."

Yang saw the title. "Been forever since I've read that one. Make some space for me would you?"

Jaune moved over on the windowsill and Yang sat next to him. They began to read together and Jaune noticed that Yang smelled like lavender, which was ironic to him when he considered her eyes. He wasn't sniffing her by any means, but her proximity to him allowed him to realize this just by breathing.

When they reached the last page, the knight in the story was fighting a dragon that was breathing fire all over his shield.

"Wow..." gasped Yang as she reached for her pocket. "I've never seen that scene drawn so well before...here let me take a picture." She sighed. "Aaand my scroll died."

Jaune snickered before Yang socked him in the shoulder. She must've been hiding her smirk because he received a notification.

 **[Congratulations, you have gained +5 Affection points with |Yang|!]**

 _'Huh...does she like when I laugh with her?...An-'_

"So..." Pyrrha smiled as she crossed her arms. "This is what you meant by...studying."

"Oh...h-hey Pyrrha." Jaune cleared his throat. "Tukson left and he gave me all his books as a gift. Took this one back from the store."

"Right," said Pyrrha. "Well, in any case, you can train like the knight in that story perhaps. And to clarify...who will you be training with?"

"Er..."

The girl sitting on the windowsill with Jaune brushed her long blonde hair back. "Yeah Jaune...who you gonna train with?"

Jaune noticed Yang's sly tone with him as she said this and he glared off to the window. _'This system better teach me how to handle this sort of thing...'_

"How about...all three of us train together?"

"Yeah Pyrrha how 'bout it?" agreed Yang.

She nodded. "I'll go change out of my uniform."

Yang walked with Jaune and his other sparring partner back toward the dorms to do the same and Jaune thought to himself a little. _'So many girls...'_

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **So I initially planned to have Neo join the Malachite Twins in their attack on Tukson in a new costume using her semblance but then I realized...wait, shouldn't I remember canon power levels? To summarize, in canon Neo was fast enough to school Yang in a one v one and would've killed her if Raven didn't save her.**

 **Yeah so the fight should've ended much faster if I added Neo. As for what's coming in the following chapters, basically, the Vytal festival dance, training, and the shadowing Ozpin put teams in Beacon on to join a Huntsman on a mission to end out Volume 2. Because Volume 3 is when I really start changing things.**

 **Volume 2 did a great job of presenting the Paladins and Team CVFY, but I feel like it was shown what their full potential was a bit too early. So the buildup will take some more time to well...buildup instead of instantly being presented and then shown. Plus it makes the payoff stronger later. Next chapter will be the dance mixed up with Jaune training, and then the one after that will probably be the shadowing that ends this arc.**

 **The cover image is still being kind of weird as I updated it and it's only changing on the archive page, so I'm hoping it works now.**

 **Now my response to the reviews!**

 **razmire: It's never established in canon exactly how old Emerald and Mercury are, so I just went off the line where Emerald referred to team RWBY as 'kids' in Volume 3 and assumed they're in their early 20s. Sorry, but it's how I view their ages.**

 **lordrednight: The only TV Tropes page I found for a Jaune gamer story is Ryuugi's 'The Games We Play' on Spacebattles which is the best first-person original work I've ever read since the Percy Jackson series, and is basically an actual novel, so I'm guessing the criteria for a Jaune gamer story like mine to have a page must be really strict and require it to be very high quality.**

 **Okay so thank you all for supporting and reading, and here are Jaune's stats and routes to end the chapter! See ya next time at the next upload!**

 **LV 17/5 Skill Points**

 **STR: 36/100**

 **SPD: 24/100**

 **DEX: 30/100**

 **STA: 32/100**

 **INT: 15/100**

 **WIS: 17/100**

 **LUK: 12/100**

 **~0**

 **[Blake: 38/100 (Platonic Friends)]**

 **[Ruby: 18/100 (Socially Awkward Team Leaders)]**

 **[Pyrrha: 23/100 (Mutual Friends)]**

 **[Weiss: 10/100 (Rejected Crush)]**

 **[Yang: 27/100 (Platonically Blonde Friends)]**

 **[Glynda: 10/100 (Friendly Acquaintances)]**


	6. A Challenging Quest

**~000~**

 _Chapter Five: A Challenging Quest_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

Yang saw Jaune's strikes coming a mile away and mostly timed backsteps or dodges much to her fellow blonde's dismay. Coco Adel watched from afar, popping her bubble gum. _'She's fast I guess.'_ she admitted mentally.

Jaune just barely raised his shield in time to stop a hook punch from Yang, but she spun around with another one, this time accelerating from the boost her gauntlet burst gave her. Her fist slammed right into the side of his head and Jaune staggered and groaned as he knew he lost aura.

"Steady your sword," advised Pyrrha from her seat as they sparred in some grass by the school.

Jaune kept his back straight, remembering to maintain his posture and balance as he struck Yang's guard with a combination of slashes. She stood her ground against all of them despite Jaune's decently high |STR| stat and fired back again with her burst punch.

While stepping back and using his shield to absorb the fiery blow, Jaune observed this well enough to get an idea. He jabbed as a distraction with Crocea Mors' tip, the thrust quickly parried. Not wasting a second as he was already closing the distance between them as he moved forward, Jaune swung his sword at Yang's head with a well-timed strike.

Yang took the hit cleanly on the head and flew over onto the dirt, yellow aura flickering from taking such a direct attack. She had made it more than strong for years, so she had more than enough to keep fighting.

Velvet gasped as Coco pressed her lips together approvingly. _'Not bad...'_

Jaune ignored the pending notification for his new move.

 **[Congratulations! You have learned a new |Melee Skill|!: |Thrust Slice|!]**

Yang stood up with a quiet growl of frustration as Jaune panted, gripping his sword tighter as she resumed her attacks against him.

"I know this guy," Coco muttered to her teammate Fox as she bounced a finger in the sparring blondes direction. "Name's Arc I think, last semester he didn't even know basics. Now he's holding his own against her?"

Yang kept sparring with Jaune as she increased her speed. But suddenly, the |System| registered a well placed |Double Hack| against Yang's blocks, and activated the |Boost|'s perks. As |+5| to both |SPD| and |STA| were activated due to the correct use of his |Melee Skills|, Jaune fought harder against his partner with less required effort. His |Speedy| perk when using his sword as he was also helped his |SPD|.

 _'He's gotten faster?'_ Yang asked herself in her mind in shock as she held a sudden attack from Jaune's sword on her gauntlet.

Being soon overwhelmed from Jaune's quick |Melee Skills|, Yang found herself pinned against an endless series of faster and faster attacks since Jaune had a large supply of aura. Jaune gasped as he checked his scroll behind his shield, Yang keeping herself at a distance from him for a second when the strikes ceased as the system notified him.

 **[AP: 46/650]**

Jaune groaned mentally. _'Melee Skills cost more aura than Melee basics? Crap I hope Yang doesn't take advantage of this by-'_

"Yah!" a soaring super punch came flying towards him.

 _'Yup.'_ Jaune raised his shield and took Yang's punch head on, but he was so low on aura that he went careening backward before crashing onto the grass.

Yang didn't have a second to react to her victory as Team CFVY approached in their Beacon school uniforms. "I liked what I saw." Coco crossed her arms next to Velvet, "But you were sloppy, learn how to manage your aura." Coco looked to Jaune.

"Um, I'll admit Jaune still has a lot to learn, but I'd hardly call him sloppy," said Pyrrha.

Coco shrugged and raised her hands. "Hey, I call 'em like I see 'em red. And what I saw was mediocre."

Pyrrha spoke kindly in her respectful tone. "That's fair."

Yang dusted off her gauntlets as she shot a look at Coco. "You just gonna take that trash? You trained him after all." she knew if someone talked to her like that they'd have a problem on their hands.

"I look forward to competing against you some time." cooed Coco.

Pyrrha had her weapons and armor but saw how Coco was unarmed completely. "Properly?"

"The Vytal Tournament then?"

Pyrrha met Coco's confident yet sly smile with her kinder one. "Perhaps."

Jaune and Yang had the same thought ringing in their heads. _'I would pay to see that happen.'_

A red blur zipped up to them. "Hey guys, hey guys!" Ruby piped up. "Professor Ozpin's calling everyone to the atrium!"

As Yang and Jaune followed Coco's team and Ruby back to the school, Coco spoke to Pyrrha in a nicer tone. "Sorry for interrupting you guys, would've liked to have stayed around to see you and blondie tag it out."

"Which one?"

Coco smirked.

"Er! I-I mean Yang or Jaune?" the red-haired girl retained her respectfully professional composure.

"Yeah her." Coco pointed off in the boxers direction. "Yang, that's her name?" Coco kept walking side by side with Pyrrha back to the school. "Reminds me of- oh nevermind."

Pyrrha hesitated to inquire further but relented. A minute or so later and the teens were all gathered in a large speaking room where Ozpin announced to them all in his kind voice. "Nearly a century ago the Great War ended. In it, Hunting legacies were born, some families were forged in their glory."

Jaune's blue eyes traveled to his sword, feeling as if for some reason the speech was related to Crocea Mors and other weapons like it.

"To honor the day it ended, around the world people celebrated by creating the Vytal Festival. Before festivities may begin, however, the staff and I have concluded that multiple classes of not just freshman will shadow huntsmen on various missions. Rest assured teams not ready yet for certain missions will not be permitted to participate in some yet, but others will. Considering the various training sessions and unofficial sparring we have seen occur more steadily as the year progressed we have determined this to be the best course of action."

Students kept watching as Ozpin spoke into the microphone. "Many forget how the war wasn't fought over material wealth or territory for the most part, but for individual expression. Never forget how you must all express yourselves on the battlefields the best you can, your own unique ways used and the like, and with the best of luck, I wish you all a safe journey into the kingdoms should your journeys bring you there."

The crowd of students dispersed to choose missions on the various screens around the room and Team JNPR found themselves choosing one Pyrrha couldn't take her eyes off of.

"All the way out in Feridai? That's a little far don't you think?" suggested Nora.

Jaune disagreed. "Seems we're allowed to." He pointed at the 'permitted student teams' tag on the screen and saw 'JNPR' written. "I think backing down from a challenge is just a bad idea. Ren?"

The ninja just shrugged as Pyrrha nodded. "I agree with Jaune," she turned to Nora. "We're doing it." Jaune heard her as he registered the team for the 'Protect and Rescue' type Mission.

Team CFVY strolled over. "Say." Pyrrha refused to roll her eyes even though she desperately wanted to when hearing Coco's cooing confident tone again. "You first years don't happen to have upperclassmen assigned to your mission do you?"

"No." Pyrrha strained a smile. "We don't-"

"Well let's see here, I think I'll join yours." Coco pressed her finger to the screen as she spoke. "I think it'll be an interesting trip won't it?"

Pyrrha looked aside. _'Why is she so sly, just, why? Must just be what's she's like I guess.'_

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

Teams CFVY and JNPR got to know each other a bit better as they waited, which wasn't very easy as all the males other than Jaune didn't speak much if at all, and Jaune was off near where Team RWBY was.

"Hey, so Yang, what mission did you guys choose?" asked Jaune.

"Search and destroy," she answered. "What about you?"

"Protecting some village or something, think it was called...Ferii...da?..."

"Feridai? That's on the southern side of the continent," Yang said. "Pretty sure it's in the middle of a few roads," Yang put her hands on her hips as she flicked her chin in the direction of Jaune's team. "See you're heading out with Coco's team, she's...interesting."

"You don't like her?" Jaune wondered.

Yang took a second. "Um, she's a bit confident that's all. Her and Pyrrha might have a rivalry brewing. She's probably never had someone question her so much, maybe that's what draws her to question her back." Jaune looked at her. How was she so good at reading people? Could it just be her personality?

"I really enjoyed sparring with you, you really kept me on my toes."

"Thanks." Yang smiled a bit. "So did you."

Jaune saw her smooth her blonde hair back as he spoke. "When will, when will you get back from your shadowing?"

"Maybe around the same time you do, can you bring me something from the village you're going to? Like a wood carving or something?"

"You mean a whittling of some sort? Sure I'll see if I can get you one," Jaune said hearing Nora call him over to the ship that appeared at the landing platform. "I um, I gotta go. See ya Yang. Bye everyone, have a safe trip!" Jaune said to Team RWBY as he walked back to his own.

Jaune assumed Yang must've liked how he was getting her something from his mission because he received a notification soon after.

 **[Congratulations, you have gained +10 Affection points with |Yang|!]**

 _'10?. Huh, maybe I should get her stuff more often?'_ Jaune wondered.

"See ya." Yang waved and smiled as Ruby giggled.

Her sister turned around. "What?"

"Oh nothing, it's just a little weird that Jaune talked to you instead of all of us." Ruby chortled.

"Maybe he's. You know," murmured Weiss. "Into her."

"No," Yang waved a hand. Weiss and Blake looked at each other, before Yang spoke. "Wait. I'm right right? Right?"

No one said anything as their assigned Huntsman appeared. "Hello girls, ready to fight for your lives!?"

They all ignored the previous 'occurrence' and all balked at the fact that it was Professor Oobleck who they'd be shadowing.

A few paces away, teams CFVY and JNPR boarded the ship that landed for them and their assigned Hunstman was already on board.

"Q-Qrow?" Jaune saw the man's face and slowly remembered the name Yatsuhashi had mentioned to him.

"Hey, there everyone," The man growled out as they all took their seats on the ship and the doors slid close and their pilot started flying the ship away southward. "You'll be under me for this mission. I'm-"

"Hey, you were in our dorm!" Nora piped up before Ren nudged her slightly. "Well, he was."

Qrow nodded as the teens sat around him on the ship, the Huntsman looking quickly to Jaune for a second. "Yeah, that's something for him to tell you. Anyway, the mission is pretty simple. There's this village that has a big Grimm problem. Food can't get in and it's a serious issue. Nevermore aren't letting any ships get in and other Grimm are blocking the roads into it. We're going to hike for about a day from where we land and clear a path in so they can get food, then we have to evacuate them to a safer place."

"So, the 'protect' part of the mission is to defend the villagers, what about the 'rescue'?" Velvet inquired.

"After making sure they're fed, we have to send a message out and wait for them all to be picked up and taken somewhere else," explained Qrow. "There's no time to waste when these people have been starving for days, and we can't wait for a ship to deliver it all."

Qrow turned his head to watch Jaune speak. "Are we taking the food directly to them then?"

"Yup. Any other questions?" After no response, Qrow put his elbows on his knees. "Now that we got that out of the way, I want to get to know you all better. Name's Qrow Branwen, I don't have a lot of dislikes other than ice skating and running out of um." He scratched his stubble and looked down at his flask in his pocket quickly. "Water. I like Hunting, it's my job. Er-" he motioned to Team CFVY. "You can go first."

"I'm Coco, I dislike jerks and like fashion."

Her two fellow teammates were much more reserved in how they quietly they spoke.

"My name's Velvet. I don't dislike much either and I like photography."

"I am Yatsuhashi Daichi. Never really liked anything other than painting."

Qrow looked at Fox and Coco explained. "He doesn't really talk. He's Fox."

"I'm Jaune Arc." said the knight. "I like cereal and training and dislike being bad at talking to people."

Coco snickered at this and Ren murmured. "I'm Ren. Don't dislike or like much at all."

"Nora." the orange-haired girl leaned back. "Pancakes. Just pancakes."

"I'm Pyrrha-"

"We all know who you are. We haven't lived under a rock all our lives." Coco nodded confidently at her statement.

Pyrrha wondered what her deal with being so sassy was and Qrow spoke. "Great, now that we all know each other I want to make something clear. For you guys." Qrow turned to Team JNPR. "This is your first ever mission." He turned to Team CFVY. "And this is definitely not your first. But at all times I want you all to work together. For the purposes of all this, you're working as one team, not two. Help each other, watch yourselves and protect yourselves and each other at all times. I've been known for messing things up with bad luck." Qrow raised his flask from his pocket. "Wake me up when we land."

As the teens dispersed and talked, mostly Nora, Coco, and Pyrrha did along with Jaune as Ren, Fox, and Yatsuhashi was almost perfectly silent. Jaune felt his attention become caught by the small screen broadcasting on the ships mini cargo bay.

"And in other news," the lady on screen explained. "Near the mountaintops around Mountain Glenn, reported small earthquakes have been building steadily these past weeks. Only stranger news can be expected from such a region."

Jaune turned away to listen in on a conversation Pyrrha and Coco were having.

"Hey, I'm sorry we got off on the wrong foot earlier, it was pretty out of line for me to question you like that."

Pyrrha's unconvinced look from her emerald eyes traveled over to her team which stood far away enough to not hear this. "About that, why are you acting that way? Why're you so snarky?"

"I couldn't stop hearing about how great you are for years, and then when I met you it's just like." Coco shrugged. "I don't know like all the hype was just that, talk."

"Have you ever seen me actually fight?"

Coco glanced at Jaune for a moment. "Can't say I have, but if your style's anything like his. Maybe rubbing off shows that sorry. I guess what I mean is that you just weren't what I thought you would be."

"I honestly can't name a person I've met who didn't already know me before I met them, but that's what I like most about...some people." Pyrrha was smiling as she thought about her student.

Jaune couldn't deny the fact that he was smiling too after he heard this and knew what she implied.

Coco turned to see Qrow nap after sipping from his flask. "Guessing the Nevermore must be a pretty big problem if we can't land, bad enough that we can't even fight out of the sky."

Jaune approached. "Hi there."

"Hey." Coco drew a packet of gum as Jaune walked up to her at Pyrrha's side.

"I was wondering what made you think I was sloppy."

Coco chewed her bubble gum quietly as she spoke. "Well, your control of your aura was quite honestly awful. It's almost like you knew how to use your attacks nicely but just didn't measure how much aura they would take to use. Most other people would pass out from that much effort, miracle that you didn't but I guess you must just have a ton of it."

Pyrrha raised a red eyebrow. _'She's got a good eye.'_

As they passed over the mountains and forest on the continent of central Sanus, Jaune invested his |Skill Points| he earned from defeating the Malachite Twins. He determined, mostly after considering his brief sparring session with Yang, that without limited use and control, overusing |Melee Skills| instead of |Melee Basics| would cost him tremendously more |Aura Points| and that they should be used sparingly.

Jaune thought back to his sparring with Yang, rubbing his chin as the ship flew over passing landscape below.

 _'She seemed to pull off more powerful attacks than I could while still not getting that tired. It must be because she's trained a lot more than me and can harness more of it? Pyrrha and Coco both told me I have a lot of aura, but if I could just learn to control it better I might be able to be as efficient in my attacks as Yang.'_

Jaune chose to place |+3| points into |STA| to make this a bit easier and |+2| into |SPD| after pulling open his |Interface| and tapping the white Dust shard embedded into his sword. Time seemed to fly as fast as the ship did towards the village in Jaune's mind after dozing off in his seat like Qrow did...

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

"Mr. Branwen." Pyrrha pushed his shoulder respectfully. "Mr. Branwen we're here."

His red eyes opened to see her standing above him. "Hm. Wh-wha-" Qrow rubbed his mouth with the back of his hand, groaning in his seat. "Ah. Thanks." he stood up and stretched. "Oh and uh, you don't need to call me that, not your damned teacher."

Pyrrha watched him step off the ship and spoke. "Er, all right then, Qrow?" she shook her head after saying this. How could she address him like that when she just met him?

Qrow saw that Yatsuhashi and Jaune were unloading all the food into small carts with help from the ship's pilot. "Thanks for all the help." Qrow nodded to him. "Have a safe trip back."

The pilot nodded back after Qrow made sure nothing had stayed on the ship. Nora noticed something after it had flown away from the small forest clearing they had landed in. "Wait, where's all our stuff?"

Coco pointed to the small pile of bags they had brought with them. "Ozpin made sure that everything we had packed was already stowed away in the ship. Just brought it out myself while you guys and Yatsu dealt with the food."

Jaune saw her calm manner in how she said this and assumed that she didn't ask for help simply because she didn't need it. All those weapons in the bags must've been heavy, and something told him Coco had no problem with them.

Yatsuhashi and Jaune were by far the strongest so they pulled the carts along with help from Coco who pushed them along from behind down the dirt path towards Feridai. The rest of the group, Teams JNPR and CFVY led by Qrow, were far ahead as the supplies they were taking were far behind

Jaune's |STR| stat was being tested as he carried his pack as well shield and armor not to mention pulling the cart laden with crates of food with him. Eventually, him and Yatsuhashi had gotten tired and accepted canteens of water from Qrow and Velvet.

Coco was brazen enough to carry both carts by herself, her handbag still carried as well on top of the boxes of food. Jaune and Yatsuhashi looked at each other and without a word needing to be spoken, both understood that she was willing to ignore their wishes to do it herself.

Nora walked by Qrow's side as they all walked down the path to village together. "So, why couldn't the military handle all this in a snap?"

"That's the thing," growled Qrow in his scratchy tone. "Everyone's ol' pal Ironwood has mobilized everything to Vale. Well, whatever troops he hasn't left defending Atlas. He could care less about this because it's our job, and since he can't do anything the council doesn't tell him to, it's not his concern."

"What a terrible guy!" Nora looked at him.

Qrow shrugged. "He's a soldier. It's what they do, follow orders, and it's not really his fault. I sure don't like him, but I can't blame him. If the council thinks resources should be spent in a certain way, they are. And that's the law."

"Wow, that's horrible!" added Nora.

"Welcome to the real world kid. Power is where it is, and it stays there." Qrow said, looking up through the forest's treetops. "Looks like it's getting dark. We've been walking for quite a while, we should reach the town by midday tomorrow."

"Those villagers are starving, shouldn't we get there now?" questioned Coco as she kept pulling the carts.

Qrow looked at her. "Grimm are more fierce during the night, and we can't have the food getting destroyed. And if you don't rest up by tomorrow, you won't be able to fight to defend them well enough from the Grimm. And this whole mission would've been a pointless waste, and you'll probably end up dying. My rule? Don't fight when you're tired, you'll end up at a disadvantage every time."

The teens all looked at each other and agreed quietly that what Qrow said made perfect sense. They all drew the carts together and after a brief dinner from the supplies allocated for them, most slept around the campfire Qrow and Jaune were speaking near.

"Hm." Qrow admired the fine steel of Crocea Mors, taking it into his hand after Jaune handed it to him. His red eyes looked down the long part of the blade by pointing the tip towards the crackling fire. "Stunning work and amazing craftsmanship. Haven't seen anything forged this well in ages, can't remember the last time I have actually." Qrow looked from the blade to the boy who owned it. "Make it yourself?"

"No, it's my great-great grandfather's," said Jaune. "Been in the family for generations."

"Well," Qrow placed the tip on his palm, not applying any pressure at all so as to not hurt himself or his aura. "If you believe the stories, one of the first weapons invented by man were swords." Qrow nodded to Jaune. "Just like this one. See, clubs and bows and arrows just weren't effective against Grimm millennia ago. Just not powerful enough." Qrow lifted the hilt, the fireplace light glimmering off its perfect sheen as he explained. "Spears and swords were initially designed to pierce their skin because most other tools were too weak. So according to legend..." He trailed to let Jaune nod and catch on.

"Man truly was able to establish civilization when steel was invented."

"I wouldn't go that far, more or less it was able to defend itself properly, make farms, then there was civilization." Qrow handed the sword back to its owner and spoke. "So, what made you want to pick up the old family sword and go off to go become a Huntsman?"

Jaune spoke loud enough for Qrow to hear him but not his sleeping comrades. "Everyone in my family was one. Most history books about Huntsmen include the Arc name but. It's all I can ever remember wanting." Jaune looked from Qrow's attentive gaze into the campfire with him. "I used to be read stories of heroes as a kid, and I always wanted to be just like them."

"So the family honor then?"

"Being the best I can be to uphold the name I guess," responded Jaune. "Or something like that." He turned from the fire to Qrow. "What made you want to become a Huntsman?"

Qrow remembered and chuckled by huffing air out of his nose quietly. "You wouldn't believe it if I told you. But it sure involved family like it does for you. Gonna turn in soon?"

Jaune nodded but still kept wanting to make conversation. "Hey Qrow, don't take this wrong way but, why did you say you were known for your bad luck?"

Qrow stood up from sitting on the wooden log by the campfire. "It's not really important, but if you have to know, it's part of my semblance."

"Again don't want to sound rude but, has it ever? Nevermind."

Qrow looked at him. "...what?"

"Has it ever, gotten anyone else hurt before?"

Qrow started walking off to his sleeping pad after sipping from his flask. "Get some rest kid, today might've been easy, but we haven't even seen a single Grimm yet."

Jaune slept peacefully that night.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

Following breakfast, Jaune and his cohort set out towards the village as light broke. Not much was said between them all, most were uneasy since no sign of Grimm was seen since their arrival.

The small silence of the forest echoed as they walked down the dirt path together.

By the time night fell again, they had already appeared at the small forest village of Feridai.

"The Huntsmen are here!" a villager exasperated, drawing the attention of his neighbors.

Jaune felt pride in distributing food out from the carts to the smiling populace as Qrow spoke to the villagers.

"Did you lose any last night?" he asked.

"Thankfully no, we hid, but they seem to be growing in larger numbers every night." one said.

"Well don't worry, " Qrow assured as he used his scroll. "I've just sent word. We'll get you all out of here."

The villagers gave him their thanks as Jaune and the other huntsmen and huntresses in training ate their dinner.

"Strange isn't it?" Coco muttered as she drank some soup, sitting on a small cement fence around Teams JNPR and CFVY. "This village was supposed to be ravaged by Grimm but we haven't seen any."

The other teens shrugged and a few smiled at each other, believing this would be the case when the ships arrived to take them all back to Vale.

Ren still believed everything had gone too smoothly. "The night's still young."

His friends agreed silently.

After eating, Velvet took out her camera and took pictures of the village at night from atop a small belltower in the town's center. She heard Jaune's voice as he walked up to her. "Hey Velvet how've you been?"

"Busy I guess. Also, a little weirded out, no mission I've ever been on has gone this well."

Jaune tried to stop himself from admiring Velvet's body pressed up tightly to her combat outfit. He always wondered why girls like her, Yang, and Pyrrha dressed so distractingly in battle. He muttered. "Um, Velvet, I think your clothes look nice."

"Thanks." Velvet snapped another photo of the town as she smiled lightly. "I like your armor."

 **[Congratulations! You have connected better with your smoking hot friend, and unlocked a new |Romantic Route|: Velvet!]**

 **[You have gained +2 Affection Points with |Velvet| Current Affection Points: 12/100. Current Relationship: Simply Comrades]**

Velvet motioned to have Jaune stand near the window of the bell tower and spoke. "Here, I want to take a picture of you."

Jaune obliged as he muttered in his mind. _'Her accent's really cute for some odd reason.'_

Velvet lined up her camera as Jaune smiled, the girl making sure to include Jaune's weapons in the shot. However, something in the background of the shot stood out to her. Out of the glow of the shattered moon a shadowy outline drew closer, and the Faunus felt fear grow.

Jaune's smile faltered. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Velvet yelled as she dropped her camera. "Jaune get down!" She grabbed Jaune as tightly as she could and threw him to the ground under her as the Nevermore crashed into the bell tower, flying at Jaune from full speed. A loud ringing sound erupted as the crash released the large copper bell's clapper, and soon it was sent flying.

Jaune kept closing his eyes but he felt something strange over his face, something warm and soft, yet squishy? There was a golden zipper on his nose, as Velvet has accidentally pressed her chest onto his face when trying to save him from the Grimm's attack. Neither of them had the time to react to this incident however due to the situation occurring.

Velvet took no time to waste when standing up and balling her fists at the Nevermore who appeared, crashing into the small hut's roof next to the tower and shrieking when it stood up on its claws. Villagers looked and felt the need to run, while the warriors protecting them felt the need to fight.

Qrow turned to see the Nevermore shriek from the hut's rooftop, before seeing a horde of Ursai and other Grimm appear in the shadows surrounding the town, the red eyes acting as lamps and their growls filling the night.

The Huntsman turned his sword into a small canon and fired, killing the Nevermore shrieking instantly. He turned with a quiet growl to the oncoming horde.

The |System| notified Jaune not a second later.

 **[Quest Alert! |Defending Feridai|: You've been training hard to be the hero you've always wanted to be! So show these Grimm what you're made of while protecting the innocent villagers in the process.**

 **Objective: Defeat all |Grimm| who attack the village without letting any townsfolk die.**

 **Completion Award: +6000 EXP, and the |Boost Route|**

 **Failure: -5 |LUK| and +0 EXP. Accept: Y/N]**

Jaune had never hit the |Yes| button faster in his whole life.

"Get everyone inside their homes! Now!" barked Qrow to the villagers who instantly scrambled for safety.

JNPR and CFVY armed themselves as the Grimm descended on them, flying out of the shadows of the forest. Qrow stood at the very front of the town with his arms crossed, seeing an Alpha Beowolf, the largest of the Beowolf kind, come up to him and roar.

His messy black hair flew about as it tried to deafen him.

Qrow still kept looking at it, crossing his arms calmly.

The Beowolf reached back to claw Qrow across the face but he was strong enough to backfist the attack away. The Beowolf actually stumbled back, Qrow doing a spinning front flip in mid air while drawing his sword. The monster just was not fast enough to react to when Qrow appeared at its back, cutting it apart at its weak point with multiple attacks.

The Alpha was taken down in mere seconds, left in red chunks from Qrow's speed.

Jaune saw the man take on five other Beowolves singlehandedly. Jumping up into the air as he unfurled his sword into a scythe, slashing around twice through the air in the blink of an eye. When Qrow landed, the Grimm lay in pieces.

A voice spoke in Jaune's head. _'Wanna be like him so badly? Go fight damn it.'_

Jaune ran up into a sprint, ignoring Velvet's cries to not let him get hurt from the fall. He landed with a shining white aura which absorbed the blow, onto the streets of the town below where everyone was fighting.

Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren looked to him as he ran to lead them against the Grimm.

Coco was smashing Major Ursai apart with her suitcase, sending white Grimm bone splinters everywhere as she struck. Yatsuhashi built up enough speed to do a front flip over her and cut apart all of them when he landed.

Multiple upper parts of Ursai fell and Jaune saw this out of the corner of his eye for inspiration. Him and his team faced off against far more Ursai, also covered in white bone spikes.

Pyrrha drew her spear Miló and transformed it into a javelin. The attack was fast enough to fly right through a Grimm and defeat it, the red-haired girl not waiting a second later to jump on it and draw her weapon from it and start slashing away claws.

Jaune stared off his own and placed his hand on Crocea Mors' hilt. He concentrated as the Ursa clawed and when his eyes opened, he focused all his energy in drawing his sword outward from its sheath, closing the distance between him and the Grimm in a single hack, drawing up loads of bone splinters in the air in the process.

 **[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new |Melee Skill|: Aura Slash!]**

Jaune was smart enough to conserve his aura, raising his shield and absorbing an attack from the monster he just cut across. He improved in holding back, waiting after parrying and rolling around multiple smashes and slashes from the large Ursa. When he came around on its flank, he took advantage of the opening and went in for a simple |Melee Basic| thrust.

It was effective enough in its sheer |SPD| and |STR| that Jaune drove all of Crocea Mors right into it, the Grimm falling to its knees. Jaune finished off the Ursa by cutting off its head, sending it flying right off with a spinning slash.

Another two Ursa attacked, but Ren stalled them with his repeating pistols. Seeing another opening as the Ursai stopped moving, Jaune cut thrice into one, sending it back. Its friend made a fist with its claws and tried to smash Jaune, the blonde boy rolling aside and going right into its body with fully effective |Power Slashes|.

The shard in Jaune's sword starting glowing bright white from the string of perfectly executed attacks, the [Boost I]'s synergy allowing Jaune to fly around Grimm, cutting them into dark red pieces with his glowing bright attacks.

When he landed from flying around the Grimm, he had successfully conserved his aura well enough to keep fighting without panting too hard.

Beowolves howled as dozens of them approached.

Jaune turned to see Coco Adel wielding a minigun, the girl mowing them down as they approached. Nevermore screeched from the sky and before anyone could react, she split them apart with bullets, falling into the ground with trembling giant red chunks.

Coco spat out her bubble gum and rested her minigun above her shoulders like this was all nothing.

Jaune shook his head in disbelief, jaw dropped. _'That girl is something else.'_

Pyrrha saw this and felt jealous instantly. She gripped Miló and Akoúo̱ tighter and went flying toward charging Ursa.

Her comrades were given no choice but to follow them, and Pyrrha knew Coco wouldn't fire to prevent her friends from being hurt. Pyrrha jumped up into a knee strike, her bronze plated skin smashing right into an Ursa's chin and knocking it right over.

When Pyrrha landed she drove the tip of Miló right into its eye. When she drove it out she spun around cutting away the claws that flew toward her. When they stumbled back Pyrrha had created openings for the rest of JNPR to attack. Nora drove right in with her hammer, crushing a Grimm's skull like a carnival game under her weapon.

Ren cut one back with quick cuts from his knife pistols and Jaune worked with him to cut it apart with their weapons. When the boys were finished, Crocea Mors had left its mark in one large cut across the entire monster, leaving it sliced open.

Jaune offered a fist to bump and Ren looked around to make sure no one was looking before rolling his eyes and accepting.

Coco and CFVY along with Qrow appeared at JNPR's side, Coco muttering. "Looks like that's all of them."

A ground shaking roar came from the forest, and a giant Ursa Major sent trees flying as it attacked the village.

Coco sighed. "Or not."

Qrow gave orders to Velvet and Fox. "Get the villagers out of their homes, take them somewhere safe."

The teens nodded and set out to collect them. Children watched from their windows in their homes, seeing Qrow and his followers prepare to unload everything in their weapons on them. Qrow's sword unfurled into a small canon and Coco, Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha prepared to fire with all they had. Ren pressed the trigger on his pistols, Pyrrha shot with her rifle, Nora used her morphed hammer cannon, Coco her mini-gun, and Qrow fired with his transformed blade.

Multiple different blasts from lime green, pink, red, and amber shot all seemed to be somewhat ineffective despite their combined use. The massive Ursa buckled under the heavy fire from five different weapons but pushed on with a louder roar.

Velvet and Fox rushed the villagers out of and away from their homes.

The group of heroes dispersed to fight it in the town's central courtyard, blasting and attacking as they battled the gargantuan Grimm. Qrow morphed his weapon into a scythe, flying towards it and cutting chunks and chunks of white bone shard right off its chest.

"Now!" he yelled when landing back on the ground.

Pyrrha leaped into a thrust with her spear and tried to drive her Miló right into it. However, its skin was too tough and the blade slid right off.

Coco fired when Pyrrha landed back on the ground with a roll, pouring shot after shot from her minigun right into the area Qrow exposed with his attacks. It was equally ineffective, and the Grimm attacked, sending a firing Nora and Ren away with the back of its massive claw.

They both slammed into walls and Jaune gripped Crocea Mors tighter. He yelled as he jumped upwards and cut across the Grimm's chest to no avail. Him and Yatsuhashi took turns attacking one after the other, but all it did was make the Grimm madder as it was driven backward.

Everyone fighting the Ursa Omega knew it, its skin was simply too tough for their weapons. Jaune remembered what Qrow had told him the night before and knew it would have to be him to land the killing blow. The Grimm sensed that there was a child who was frightened inside his room in one of the hovels in the village, and attacked him.

Jaune saw the Ursa tear the roof right off and he heard a scream. Knowing what that meant, Jaune sprinted as fast as he could towards the hovel.

The small boy screamed as he hid under his bed, scrambling for safety from hiding in the corner of his room. The Ursa picked up the bed and threw it away, leaving the boy cowered on the floor. The Ursa raised its claw and prepared to smash him, but was stopped.

The boy was surprised he had not been killed and looked up to see Jaune had |Aura Parried| the attack away and used his white shard's |Synergy| effect to move quicker and with more energy. Another attack came, Jaune was holding up the Ursa's entire arm and absorbed enough force to turn a Paladin into a tin can using his large amount of |STR|. Jaune's aura stopped shining in a bright white glow, the knight pushing the Omega's claw right off his shield.

Jaune instantly scooped up the boy in his arms and carried him out of the house as the Grimm tore up the entire home with its claws. He carried him to where Fox and Velvet had gathered the villagers. The boy ran to his parents and they smiled and closed their eyes when embracing him.

Jaune wasted no time in running back into the fight knowing Qrow and the others will still fighting the monster. Qrow was using all his strength to deflect the Ursa's claw swipes with his sword, as Coco had an idea seeing Jaune appear with his impressively sharp blade.

"Hey blondie, get over here!" called Coco. Jaune ran over to her and Coco drew the Grimm's attention by firing her minigun into it. It growled and stopped trading blows with Qrow, turning to Coco who yelled at Pyrrha. "I think he's strong enough to pierce its skin, but we gotta put everything into it! I'm gonna throw him at it, charge his sword with your semblance when I do!"

"Don't miss!" Pyrrha nodded.

The Grimm started charging at Coco and Jaune nodded at Coco to show he was ready. Coco dropped her minigun and picked up Jaune by his armor. When she launched off her legs into the air by spinning around upward, Pyrrha focused her semblance on Jaune's sword to power it and Coco hurled Jaune toward the unnaturally large Ursa with everything she had.

Jaune came flying toward the Grimm like a missile, pointing the tip of his sword toward where he was soaring, which was the chest area where Qrow tore off bone. The Grimm reared up on its hind legs, the Ursa preparing to swipe Jaune out of the air. But he was much too fast, and Jaune's sword pierced its tough skin and he actually went through it using the gap in its skin he created.

Jaune flew right through it, dispersing his weight through the impact on the courtyard cement with a roll. When he turned around still kneeling, a massive hole lay in the Ursa Omega's chest, just where Jaune had flew through with Crocea Mors.

The Grimm paused...before collapsing onto the cement in a ground trembling crash.

The villagers, led by Velvet and Fox walked slowly into their courtyard after the small lull in the air created from the pause in the fighting.

Jaune, panting from having consumed a large amount of his aura from literally soaring through an Ursa and fighting, received multiple |Notifications|.

 **[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the quest |Defending Feridai|, and have leveled up as a result!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have successfully improved in |Melee Basics| and |Melee Skills| and have gained |EXP| as a result.]**

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked a new |Route| in |Boost I| (Current Progression: 33/100)]  
**

 **[LV 17 - LV 19 (807/3600 EXP)]**

 **[You currently have 10 skill points ready to be invested into your |Stats|, would you like to use them now? Y/N]**

Jaune hit |No| while leaving a mental note to himself to check out this new |Boost Route| as he knew it would definitely lead to him unlocking |Boost II| if there was one.

The villagers all cheered for them after the sudden silence in the air, and Jaune felt a wave of relief wash over him and all his friends.

Qrow walked up to Jaune. "Hey, nice work out there kid, you'd make for a fine huntsman."

"Really?"

He nodded with a slight smile as the boy Jaune saved ran up to him.

"Hey there." Jaune knelt to speak to him as the villager was a third of his height. "You almost gave me quite a fright, always make sure to evacuate how Huntsmen and other authorities do okay?"

The boy nodded and tapped his fingers together. "I," He shifted his foot shyly. "I want to grow up to be just like you someday. I, I want to be a hero just like you!"

Jaune smiled at this. "Anyone always can. When you come of age you can always enroll in a combat school, you just have to talk it over with your parents when you're old enough."

The boy's parents appeared and thanked him. "We owe you our son's life, how can we ever repay you?"

"Um, " Jaune remembered what he getting for Yang. "Do you happen to have wooden toys or shavings in the shapes of knights?"

After the villagers had returned to their homes in a rather jubilant mood over the saving of their town, Qrow delivered the bad news to the teens who helped him on his mission. "I um, I gotta tell you all something." CFVY and JNPR gathered around and listened. "I just got word that some ships got attacked by Grimm, we might have to wait a bit longer to leave and evacuate the town."

"Why don't we just take off towards somewhere else with them with us?" wondered Nora.

"It'd compromise the mission. Our jobs are to protect these people and wait here for the ships to arrive, we can't just take off. The Grimm'd follow us everywhere we'd go anyway, we stay here and wait. Understood? Could've just been my awful luck that those ships went down, maybe someone tampered with them or something like that. But we're still waiting here."

Everyone nodded and Qrow drew his flask. "Gonna go see if this town has a bar, you kids stay out of trouble okay?"

The teens all used the town's destroyed bell tower building as a place to stay, finding old mattresses to lay around on as well as using their sleeping bags they brought.

Coco saw Pyrrha chatting with Nora, who pulled away to let them talk when she saw the leader of Team CFVY approaching.

"I saw how you handled yourself out there, I'm sorry for doubting you so much before." apologized Coco.

Pyrrha shook her head. "No worries. Most people think I'm miles ahead of everyone else, but it's just not that true." she turned to Jaune who was talking quietly with Velvet. "Some people improve fast enough that we think differently of them."

"He was great. Much better than he was yesterday." Coco admitted before bidding Pyrrha good night with a nod and leaving to sleep.

Pyrrha saw Jaune lean in Velvet's ear and felt a sting of jealousy when she saw Velvet lean back from the joke and giggle. She didn't consider herself to be attracted romantically to the paladin yet, but it still made her feel weird when seeing Jaune flirt or talk with other girls.

Jaune knew the oncoming |Notification| was coming.

 **[You have gained +5 Affection Points with |Velvet|!]**

As he saw Velvet's laughter trail off quietly and she continued talking with him, both of them sitting on their sleeping bags while conversing, he knew that whatever the next day would bring he'd be ready for.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **Here's a cut line from Qrow to Ren: "What'd you fill those rounds with kid? Taffy?"**

 **I initially was going to write this because Ren's pistols in canon are barely effective at all against anything and seem to just bother Grimm from what I've seen.**

 **Jaune's |AP pool| is not a fixed point because as he trains more he's able to use more AP in battle as his |STA| goes up as well as increasing his bodies strength like Yang's did in canon. Similar to another blonde protagonist from another anime, by training more he can harness more of his potential. Yes, I enjoy watching Naruto.**

 **Also before anyone says otherwise, Velvet didn't shove her breasts on Jaune on purpose because she liked him that way or wanted to, they're just not there yet and it, of course, is the classic Harem/Ecchi trope of accidental groping/intimacy.**

 **And yeah, Velvet's been added to Harem. Might add Coco and maybe NDGO later on, but probably not NDGO because then the harem could just get too big. I have no problems with large harems, but in my book focus is easier to maintain in terms of romantic themes when the harem isn't excessively large.**

 **It's been an exact year since I've started writing this story, and I'm glad to say that I will continue to do so, and I'm very grateful this story's is close to 1000 followers and 800 favorites. You guys are awesome, thanks for a year of support!**

 **So here are my response to a few reviews and the stats and routes.**

 **lordrednight: Yeah again, The Games We Play is one of the best things I've ever read period. I'd recommend that you read 'One-Night Brand' and 'Relic of the Future' if you like quality fics as well as Dragonslayer (I know I do, One-Night Brand is Dragonslayer not Relic by the way) and time travel stuff. And not to mention, Coeur's fics in general, because he's one of the best writers I've found on this site. Ktyouvswriting is amazing too.**

 **Everyone else who reviewed: Thank you all for giving me your wonderful support and input! I'm very glad to see all the enjoyment people are getting from this story.**

 **And finally, the cover image's finally working, thank you fanfic support team!**

 **Stats and Routes:**

 **LV 19/10 Skill Points**

 **STR: 36/100**

 **SPD: 26/100**

 **DEX: 30/100**

 **STA: 35/100**

 **INT: 15/100**

 **WIS: 17/100**

 **LUK: 12/100**

 **~0**

 **[Blake: 38/100 (Platonic Friends)]**

 **[Ruby: 18/100 (Socially Awkward Team Leaders)]**

 **[Pyrrha: 23/100 (Mutual Friends)]**

 **[Weiss: 10/100 (Rejected Crush)]**

 **[Yang: 37/100 (Platonically Blonde Friends)]**

 **[Glynda: 10/100 (Friendly Acquaintances)]**

 **[Velvet: 17/100 (Simply Comrades)]**


	7. Breach Denied

**~000~**

 _Chapter Six: Breach Denied_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

Yatsuhashi Daichi meditated quite calmly as Jaune and Ren began their training exercise. He knew his hearing and reflexes would be more than enough to stop the two boys younger than him.

His large orange sword lay embedded in the dirt behind him as Yatsuhashi sat resting his palms face upwards on his knees and sitting with his legs crossed. Jaune watched from afar behind a tree in the small orchard by the side of the village with Ren just a pace off from his position. It astounded him how someone like Yatsuhashi could be so calm yet have so much energy whilst fighting.

Ren burst out of the trees firing his weapons, emerald bullets flying toward a meditating Yatsuhashi.

He flew upwards from sitting and drew his sword, the tangerine blade protecting him from the shot. Ren kept firing as Yatsuhashi blocked, Jaune coming up from Yatsuhashi's flank to strike.

Qrow nodded approvingly at Jaune's timing and attempt to take advantage of the opening.

Yatsuhashi dashed out of Ren's line of fire to engage Jaune directly, blocking strikes from the blonde paladin's sword with his own. Jaune stopped attacking for a brief second to allow Yatsuhashi to return his own slashes, the knight ready to defend. Ren, however, was already firing again to stall Yatsuhashi as he ran toward him. As Yatsuhashi rolled forward in a somersault in a both defensive and offensive movement, he slashed outward at Jaune's legs, the strike missing as Jaune jumped over it.

Ren and Jaune both attacked Yatsuhashi on either side of him simultaneously, and he countered them at the same time skillfully. Yatsuhashi raised his leg behind him in a back thrust kick and sent Ren flying backward as he knocked Crocea Mors aside with his own sword. Jaune struggled to keep up with Yatsuhashi's patience and strength with his own bursting energy and explosiveness.

Jaune drove forward in |Double Slashes|, cutting his sword through the air sideways twice and driving Yatsuhashi back. Jaune controlled the swing but failed to get the |Boost|'s synergy effect as the |Melee Skill| lacked proper effectiveness in striking Yatsuhashi. Yatsuhashi countered by closing the distance between him and Jaune with a punch, his fist smashing directly into Jaune's nose.

The boy's white aura flickered from how powerful the attack was, and Jaune barely had time to raise his shield to protect himself from Yatsuhashi's blade. When it connected with Jaune's shield, the yellow-haired boy was sent flying across the dirt, sending a small cloud of dust up into the air. Jaune staggered up and successfully |Aura Parried| another one of Yatsuhashi's meteor strikes on his upper body, only for his |SPD| and |STA| boosts from using a |Melee Skill| properly to mean nothing as Yatsuhashi swept his legs out from under him.

When Jaune landed on the ground his aura was all but depleted from how much damage he was absorbing from Yatsuhashi's attacks. And by the time Ren had recovered from being kicked in the stomach and attacked Yatsuhashi, he was again knocked out of the action with a kick to his head. Jaune grunted as he tried to push off the ground with Crocea Mors to fight again but Yatsuhashi appeared with his sword already at Jaune's head.

"Stop." Qrow stood up from his tree stump and nodded to Yatsuhashi. "That was excellent work." He turned to Ren and Jaune who were both exhausted and battered from fighting someone who outclassed them in every aspect of fighting. "You two, on the other hand, need to work on 'lotta things. You." He pointed to Ren who was being helped up off the ground by Yatsuhashi. "Needed to use your advantages better. You could've just stayed out of range the whole time using your pistols and let Jaune fight him, and you would've tired him out eventually."

Jaune still gained some improvement from all the effort he put into his training.

 **[You've earned +2 to |Stamina| from your improvement at |Melee Basics|!]**

Jaune wiped the sweat off his brow as he sheathed his sword, listening to Qrow's words. "And you, you only took advantage of an opening once. And just because he's bigger than you doesn't mean you gotta attack to stall him, just pick your shield up, dig your heels in, and you'll be able to stop a train believe me." Qrow sipped from his flask. "That's all for today, good work."

Jaune watched Yatsuhashi walk off after barely having broken a sweat, muttering to Ren. "I don't get it. He fought both of us and he's not tired at all. Does he have more aura than me?"

Ren simply looked at him and walked off, leaving him to consider this on his own.

Jaune stared at his fist. _'I was willing to be defensive, but I thought he was much too strong. The attacks I must've been using should have been using too much aura. If I can find a way to use more power but less aura, I wouldn't have to worry about saving it. I think I should talk to Pyrrha.'_

Pyrrha saw her secret crush approaching in the village and fixed her crimson hair in the reflection of a window as he walked. "Pyrrha."

"Yes?" the girl looked at him from fixing her hair.

"That day, in the Emerald Forest. You told me I had a lot of aura. How much would you say I have, compared with others?" wondered Jaune.

Pyrrha sat down on the wooden railing of the village's town hall's patio. "Hm. Perhaps more than most I believe, even more than most people I've met."

"Then why do I get so tired when I fight? I hold back occasionally to hold on to more aura, but why do I still get tired?"

"Well the more you train the better you are at using it. You become more efficient with aura the more you use it, just like any muscle." Pyrrha motioned to their teammate who was sipping from a bowl of soup across the dirt trail leading into the town from them. "Take Ren for example. He has far less aura than you do but has been training longer than you have. It's just a matter of experience."

Jaune looked down at his shoes. "Oh."

Pyrrha stood up off the railing and made eye contact with Jaune. "Look. You're strong, your technique is solid, and you learn quickly. You just lack enough training. What made you want to ask this?"

"I came back from sparring with Yatsuhashi with help from Ren. I still lost pretty badly."

Pyrrha smiled kindly. "Of course you'd have trouble with him. He's a year above you and is one of the school's best students. What'd you expect?" Pyrrha nodded as she saw Jaune understand. "You really overestimate yourself sometimes, you're still learning just like the rest of us."

"Thanks."

She smiled back and turned around to go help a few villagers move a few small trees about. Jaune looked after her and thought on why she was so kind to everyone, he had to admit he really admired her strength and speed in battle and the fact that she had been training him since he was finished dealing with Cardin. Jaune pulled the wooden figurine in the shape of a knight from his pocket and remembered Yang.

He hadn't really progressed too far down Yang and Pyrrha's |Routes| but he didn't really mind what he had so far because they were still great friends to have. He still hadn't told anyone on his team about his semblance yet, although admittedly even he didn't fully understand every aspect of it, much less how and when to use it.

Jaune rubbed his chin in thought as Velvet walked up to him. "Hey Jaune." she chirped.

"Oh er, hey Velvet." he put the wooden figurine away in his pocket.

"I heard you just fought Yatsuhashi just now, how was it?"

"Um." Jaune chuckled. "Enlightening."

Velvet giggled at this from Jaune's expression and the delivery of his joke.

 **[You have gained +5 Affection Points with |Velvet|!]**

"Yes, Yatsuhashi can be a very tough fighter," said Velvet after she sighed from her laughter. "I only hope that-" Velvet's keen eyes stopped her from finishing her sentence as she looked up to the afternoon sky. "Are those the ships?"

Villagers cheered as they saw the ships land from the sky, gladdened by the fact that they didn't have to live any longer in constant fear for their lives and their homes being crushed. As the villagers filed onto the ships, the ships began to fly off and Qrow complained to the pilot. "What the hell took so long?"

"Sorry!" the pilot answered. "The ships had to undergo repairs, couldn't get them in the air in time. But don't worry, after we drop off the townsfolk at their new homes, you'll all be well off on your way back home to Vale!"

After waving and saying goodbye to the people they saved, Jaune felt pride seeing how he and his friends had done a good job of completing their mission. The villagers no longer had to live starving and attacked by Grimm that almost overran the town every night, they could now live in peace.

The ships lifted off the new town's platform and set off for Vale.

Qrow sat down next to Jaune and unscrewed his flask. "You did well out there yesterday kid. Didn't think you had it in you."

"Why not?"

He shrugged. "Last I heard from Ozpin last semester you were one of the school's worst fighters. But then again, considering what you have with you, it's not that surprising."

Jaune's blue eyes moved quickly between Qrow's calm face and the white shard forged into his sword. "Yeah, well..."

"That's not to say you haven't improved on your own merits too I guess," added Qrow. "It wouldn't be right to say you haven't gotten more skilled at using that sword of yours." He nodded to Crocea Mors. "In time, I think you'll eventually come into your own."

"You mean I haven't yet?" Jaune was a little surprised.

Qrow mumbled after sipping from his flask again. "You've got a lot of aura, more than a lot of other fighters. The problem is you're so focused on knocking down whatever or whoever it is you're fighting you waste too much energy. Take your time." Qrow raised his finger. "Lift your shield. Plant your feet. Again, take your time."

Jaune shook his head. "But I see you move so fast out there against the Grimm. Why can't I do that?"

"No offense, but I actually know how to make sure my attacks are effective. You might be fast, but you have half the mobility and accuracy I do. If you gained a way to move around like I could, you wouldn't have any trouble attacking."

Jaune rubbed his chin, before his eyes widened and he stood up straighter. He remembered how Blake and especially Ruby moved in battle. Both girls did not stay still when attacking, they moved around in explosive arc-like movements, jumping about in the air and making sure their well-timed attacks always met their targets at an undefended area of their target's defense. Compared with Jaune's attacks, although they lacked much more in raw speed and strength, their timing, movement, and precision were far superior.

"You got it?" Qrow saw the way Jaune was lost in his own thoughts.

Jaune nodded to his question and started wondering if there were acrobatic skills in the system that could be combined with his |Melee Skills| in order to make his strikes far more effective. For now, he'd stick with what he knew.

The ship kept flying over forest and mountain alike toward Vale, the eager heroes having no idea what Vale was undergoing currently.

 **~000~**

Qrow looked out of the side of the ship to see a massive breach in Vale's streets. Civilians fled in terror as Grimm poured forward in droves, the girls of Team RWBY staring down a horde that surrounded them. He growled seeing his nieces in danger, reaching for his sword.

Jaune looked at his team and Coco's. All of them were already armed. All it took was a nod from Jaune and they all flew out of the ship with a jump after Qrow.

Team CFVY and JNPR landed on the cement of the platform where Team RWBY made their stand against the horde with a gigantic slam, all eight of them making cement fly everywhere, striking multiple Grimm and sending them stumbling from the impact.

A King Taijitu hissed loudly and led the horde's descent onto the teens below led by Qrow, the two sides running full speed at each other.

Qrow slashed thrice against the serpent Grimm's skull, his attacks so strong he split open its head into perfect red ribbons. Ruby jumped into a slash just like her uncle, cutting away Ursa along with the rest of her team.

Jaune went for a |Thrust Slice| pushing the tip of Crocea Mors cleanly into the chest of an Ursa. When he completed the |Melee Skill| he tore it right out of the monster and sent its upper half flying. The synergy of the white shard registered the correct use of a skill and |Boost I| sent Jaune into a frenzy.

Coco spat on the ground next to her and kicked a Beowolf down. Jaune sailed in a jump and cut off its head mid-air. After he landed and kept running, Coco yelled at him. "That was my kill blondie!"

"Sorry!" chortled the paladin as he cut away at two different Grimm. His slashes were effective enough to make the monsters stumble back, and he parried away both sets of claws with his shield. Seeing the opening and taking Qrow's advice, he planted his feet and twisted off of them in a blindingly fast swing.

|Power Slash| was wielded so effectively by Jaune along with the power of the |Boost| that Jaune cut both Grimm directly in half, their red insides showing completely. After Jaune completed his swing, he tapped his crystal to see that he had barely used his aura.

 **[AP: 547/650]**

Jaune smirked seeing his improved control over his movements.

Weiss finished off a set of Grimm by summoning a large sword with her glyphs and looked to see a familiar blonde taking on multiple Grimm with help from the rest of his team. "Is that, Jaune?"

She had to admit she was impressed at seeing his improvement at fighting, the boy rolling around or parrying away claw attacks from various Beowolves, responding soon after with effective attacks of his own. His sword's bright sheen almost seemed to glow as it cut through the black and red flesh of the Grimm, white arcs cutting through the darkness.

"Somebody's been training." cooed Yang on this as she punched an Ursa into the sky before round kicking it back into the cement, sending pavement flying about.

JNPR cut apart the horde into pieces with CFVY and RWBY by their sides, Jaune and Pyrrha both attacking a Grimm simultaneously. Both their weapons sliced open a large Ursa as they ran towards each other, engaging other monsters when they finished.

"Heya Ruby." Qrow cut a Grimm away.

"Hey uncle Qrow what're you doing here!?"

"Took a few of your friends on a mission." Qrow cut behind him effortlessly, leaving two halves of an Ursa behind him.

He unfurled his weapon into a scythe seeing a larger section of the horde roar and descend. He cut almost seven entire Grimm down with one swing of his scythe. Ruby moved quite like him, her silver eyes darting about as she crashed down into the center of the horde and spun with Crescent Rose, the upper halves of dozens of Beowolves flying up into the air.

Velvet and the rest of CFVY joined JNPR and slew as many on their own. Jaune used a simple thrust combined with a jump into the air to drive directly into the chest of a Beowolf and send it slamming onto the ground. He unlocked yet another |Melee Skill| after he landed.

 **[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new |Melee Skill|: Soar Thrust!]**

After crushing the Grimm into the floor of the platform with his jump thrust, Jaune instantly cut off the Beowolf's head, dragging up pieces of cement as he slashed down from the combined strength of his arm muscle and Crocea Mors' powerful steel.

Two more Grimm attacked only for Nora and Pyrrha to deal with them, weapons flying into their skulls. After those two were defeated, Ren stood on the defeated remains of multiple Grimm, firing his pistols at the multiple King Taijitus slithering toward them after they annihilated the remaining Beowolves.

Jaune turned to Yatsuhashi. "Mind throwing me?"

Yatsuhashi shrugged and gripped Jaune by the straps of his armor. The yellow-haired paladin went flying and Jaune went spinning downwards after he soared over the horde with an extended Crocea Mors, slicing the head right off of a serpent Grimm as he landed. Back on the ground again, Jaune saw multiple others begin to prepare to strike, and lowered himself into his stance, planting his feet and preparing to twist off them.

Jaune summoned as much aura as he could and prepared to focus it in a three hundred and sixty-degree spinning attack. The advanced application of the skill  
|Aura Slash| was much to the appreciation of the crystal which synergized with Jaune's skill in combat, increasing the effectiveness of the attack. The attack wasn't enough to defeat the various snake Grimm, but it was enough to create openings for his friends to attack.

Velvet and Fox used their fists and feet to create enough damage for Yatsuhashi and Coco to finish them off, and the rest of Jaune's team also slew the remaining Taijitus with ease from Jaune's attack on all of them.

Any Grimm who proved to be too much for a few of the students were gunned down by robots from the Atlas military which dropped in from the sky above that General Ironwood had occupied.

The last few Grimm remaining in the horde proved to be little more than nuisances to Glynda, who simply waved her riding crop and killed them as she stomped angrily towards the hole in the street where the scourge poured through. With a flick of her wrist, large pieces of cement assembled back together like jigsaw pieces and covered the breach.

Everyone looked around to see the slaughtered pieces of what was left of the Grimm horde and Jaune sheathed Crocea Mors again as he was given multiple |Notifications| for his improvement.

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the |Acheivement| "Powerhouse"! You have gained +2 to |STA| and |STR| as a result!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have successfully improved in |Melee Basics| and |Melee Skills| and have gained |EXP| as a result.]**

 **[LV 19 - LV 20 (106/3700 EXP)]**

 **[You currently have 15 skill points ready to be invested into your |Stats|, would you like to use them now? Y/N]**

Jaune hit |No| and enjoyed the same feeling of relief his comrades did in their victory.

 **~000~**

Ruby and Yang walked towards where Pyrrha and Jaune were sitting and talking together on the edge of the platform holding Beacon overlooking Vale. "Hey you two, I'm guessing you're probably wondering what happened while you were gone."

Jaune and Pyrrha nodded together with muttered expressions of agreement.

"Well we were shadowing Professor Oobleck and we went into Mount Glenn, and then we found this huge underground city where I fell into a giant pit in the ground. Then I-"

"Yeah Ruby, I think they want the short version." Yang finished cutting off her own sister from going on one of her hyper-energetic rants that flowed as quickly as she did whilst fighting.

"Right." sighed Ruby. "Anyway, the White Fang was planning on releasing a bunch of Grimm into the city and we kinda stopped them."

"Kinda?" Jaune asked.

Yang spread her hands. "Well, not really. Blake managed to get Roman Torchwick arrested, but Ruby couldn't figure out who was really behind all this." she cleared her throat towards Jaune. "I believe you have something of mine."

"Oh! Right." Jaune handed her the wooden knight figurine from one of the pockets of his jeans. "By the way, why did you want this?"

"I wanted something special to remember everyone's first mission by." Yang smiled. "Gotta say, it really shows how you feel about me getting me something this random. Was more of a trick more than anything." Before Jaune could stutter out anything, Yang giggled to interrupt. "It's fine, thanks for it anyway."

 **[You have gained +15 Affection points with |Yang|!]**

 _'Huh,'_ Jaune thought. _'I guess flirtatious games really are her thing. I thought something was up with that because that was a little weird.'_

"I heard CFVY can really fight, were they really as good as everyone said they were?" pondered Ruby curiously.

Jaune opened his mouth but Pyrrha spoke before he could. "Coco Adel proved to be nothing like I expected. Other than that I'd say they were great."

Yang patted Ruby's shoulder. "Come on, we should leave these two alone." She had to admit leaving the two of them together over such a nice view made her feel a tad bit jealous, but in her book, it was all part of the fun of flirtation.

Jaune turned towards Pyrrha. "Qrow's reviewing how well we did on our shadowing in Professor Ozpin's office right now. Do you know how we're graded?"

"Well by performance, or teamwork-"

Jaune shook his head and spoke kindly. "No, I meant as a group or individually?"

"Hm." Pyrrha rocked her legs back and forth over the edge of the platform, leaning back on her hands as she watched one of Ironwood's ships float over Vale. "I really don't know. But I wouldn't be too worried about yourself Jaune, you did an absolutely fantastic job."

Jaune smiled after this. "You really think so?"

Pyrrha placed her hand on his shoulder. "I do."

She took it off and Jaune leaned back with her as they enjoyed the view. "So what do we have to look forward to now?"

"The dance, the festival, the tournament, the rest of the semester..." Pyrrha trailed and rolled her hand forward in the air. "A lot really."

Jaune understood. "All right then. About the tournament, I want to keep training with you and Yang for it."

"Really?" Pyrrha was surprised. "Are you sure you're not ready?"

"I don't just want to do well Pyrrha." Jaune's hand rolled into a fist. "I want to win."

"Sure." Pyrrha smiled.

Jaune slowly began to drift his head towards Pyrrha's shoulder which she accepted. It wasn't long before the boy had dozed off and Pyrrha let his head drift into her lap. As she began threading her fingers through his blonde hair, Pyrrha looked down at him. "Jaune? I was wondering if I could be your date to the dance coming up soon?"

Jaune's blue eyes opened to the beautiful red-haired spartan above him. "Hm? What?"

Pyrrha laughed quietly. "I said I wanted to be your date to the dance Jaune."

"Oh, well." Jaune rolled his eyes around in the air in thought. "Sure."

Pyrrha huffed air out of her nose in a snicker. "Awesome."

"So, should I get a tie or something to match your dress or-"

"We'll figure it out." Pyrrha kept running her fingers through Jaune's hair soothingly and he began to doze off again before he realized something, his cobalt colored eyes opening once more. "Wait, aren't we on a ledge right now?"

Pyrrha shook her head reassuringly. "Don't worry. I can catch you with my semblance and bring you back up here." Pyrrha referred to the pieces of white armor protecting Jaune's torso.

"But what if you fall off?"

"I'm not going to fall off the ledge with your head in my lap Jaune, don't worry." chuckled Pyrrha.

Jaune exhaled loudly. "Okay."

Seeing the way he responded to her and that they were going to be dates to the upcoming Beacon Dance, Pyrrha Nikos had to admit she was feeling more warmth toward her blonde team leader. However, the boy who'd be receiving |Notifications| for these accomplishments would be far too relaxed to know they even happened.

 **[You have gained +20 Affection points with |Pyrrha|!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the |Acheivement| "Lady Charmer"! You have gained +2 to |WIS| as a result!]**

As the ships kept floating over Beacon slowly and Pyrrha continued to smooth her hand through Jaune's hair as he rested his head in her lap, the two relaxed in the sun on that platform after fighting with increasing effort for two days in a row. The semester had only begun for both of them.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **I think I'm calling it there for Volume 2. I'm starting what would be considered Volume 3 canon with the dance, and before anyone says anything, no Pyrrha will not be Jaune's only date to the dance, the entirety of next chapter will be dealing with how many girls including Glynda will be wanting to go with him, and at the end the actual dance itself.**

 **Expect harem tropes, but I can't promise which ones or how many. And if anyone thinks Jaune is strong now, just wait until |Boost II|. Whoo boy. On top of that, he has fifteen skill points waiting to be invested so yeah, he's going to be even stronger when he updates his stats.**

 **So now for the reviews and stats.**

 **Phenomenal Ultra Instinct: With training, Jaune will be able to expand his use of his |Aura Pool|. So yes, his AP will catch up soon enough. And yes, fighting Grimm does count as training to the |System| as Jaune is applying actual fighting skills. From now on, the |System| will register |AP| increases in Jaune's |Aura Points| whenever he's done training.**

 **Dark White Fang: Jaune has only used his semblance when he's in desperate need of it when he wasn't as strong back at the beginning of this fic. I won't spoil much about what's to happen later in the story, but let's just say the tournament will be a big push in the right direction perhaps.**

 **RedDemonEye: Thanks! Hope the action scenes this chapter will be just as good as they were last chapter.**

 **razmire: Depends really. I want to make new Grimm, and I will definitely be making already existing Grimm much stronger as well as making stronger versions of them. But it depends on whether or not everyone will be open to the idea of new Grimm. So how 'bout folks? New Grimm, or no? (Should I make a poll for this? There's still a lot of time until there will be action scenes with Grimm.)**

 **Stats and Routes:**

 **LV 20/15 Skill Points**

 **STR: 38/100**

 **SPD: 26/100**

 **DEX: 30/100**

 **STA: 39/100**

 **INT: 15/100**

 **WIS: 19/100**

 **LUK: 12/100**

 **~0**

 **[Blake: 38/100 (Platonic Friends)]**

 **[Ruby: 18/100 (Socially Awkward Team Leaders)]**

 **[Pyrrha: 43/100 (Mutual Friends)]**

 **[Weiss: 10/100 (Rejected Crush)]**

 **[Yang: 52/100 (Platonically Blonde Friends)]**

 **[Glynda: 10/100 (Friendly Acquaintances)]**

 **[Velvet: 22/100 (Simply Comrades)]**


	8. A Dance to Remember

**~000~**

 _Chapter Seven: A Dance to Remember_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

James Ironwood cleared his throat, Ozpin sipping his coffee at his desk as Glynda crossed her arms. One of Ironwood's top lieutenants Winter Schnee was present in the office, tapping her foot impatiently. All it took was a quick glance from Ironwood to get her to stop.

Gears in Ozpin's office continued clanking as some of Remnant's most prominent authority figures stood in silence.

The elevator slid open and out walked Qrow, hunched over his scroll. He stood up and smirked when he saw everyone else in the room. "Oh. Oh, I'm sorry were you all waiting for me? I had no idea."

Ozpin put his coffee cup down. "Now that he's here we can all begin."

"Wait, wait, wait." Qrow put his scroll away in his pocket. "If we are, then why is she here?" he pointed at Winter.

Ironwood interrupted his subordinate before she could speak. "Winter is one of my most loyal officers and a skilled leader in the Atlas military. I have no qualms in her ability at all to be present."

Qrow bit his lip through his smirk, making Winter angrier by the second. "Oh of that I don't doubt." Winter balled her fists at his words. "I just thought this was the big kid's table, that's all."

Winter was about to speak again but Ironwood put his hand on her shoulder. "It's fine, I'll see you on my ship with the other officers."

"Sir I-" Winter swallowed. She looked aside and nodded. "Yes sir." she walked off and left through the elevator.

Qrow turned back to everyone else there as he sipped from his flask. "We gonna get started or what?"

"Of course, first, General Ironwood?" Ozpin motioned to the man.

"Thank you Professor Ozpin." Ironwood cleared his throat. "Roman Torchwick refuses to cooperate at all with us. He won't give us the name of who he's working with, or where he's hiding all of Vale's dust supply. His partner Neopolitan hasn't been seen since their failed robbery of a local shop a few months ago. All though," Ironwood leaned on Ozpin's desk. "We all know who he's with."

"So it's true then?" asked Glynda.

The general nodded.

"Qrow?" asked Ozpin.

"Yeah, after that little field trip you made me go on." Qrow put his flask away and wiped booze off his mouth. "I found out that whoever she sent is right here inside the school."

"This display of strength." Ironwood motioned to the small hologram he put up of a vast portion of the Atlas military defending Vale's skies and streets. "Is supposed to ward off any threats caused by such actions."

Qrow began to chuckle, and Ironwood who was confused at this pondered on this openly. "What's so funny?"

"You actually think she gives a damn? I'm not just talking about the Grimm, I'm talking about everything she's made. Despite my family," Qrow made quick eye contact with Glynda and Ironwood. "I find loyalty to be a funny thing. Especially when fear is involved."

"So what're you saying?" Ozpin stood out of his desk chair.

"That fear doesn't work with her, or her followers," responded Qrow. He lifted his hands to Ozpin's office. "We've created the biggest lie ever made. We stage these stupid festivals, carnivals, tournaments, and dances, to try to make everyone forget that we're too incompetent to protect them properly from the real threats that lie beyond what they see. That they don't even know what they're truly up against."

Glynda raised a platinum blonde eyebrow. "Then what can we do?"

"Our only hope lies in hope itself I guess. It's times like these when people find someone to turn to, to lead them. Until now, I thought that was Ozpin," Qrow shrugged. "Now, it might be someone else."

"Who?" Ironwood implored.

Qrow put his hands in his pockets. "The same name academies have been getting since the Great War. Arc. Jaune Arc. The class clown, a joke, a total screwup. Came across a shard blessed by the Gods, and obviously, that all became things of the past for him."

"Are you sure?" Ironwood looked at him.

"I know it when I see it," said Qrow. "Luckily for us, he seems intent on being loyal to us and becoming a Huntsman. Just wanted to let you know that the real faith you should be putting in should be in the kids we're training, not a bunch of garbage." He turned and began to walk to the elevator and Ironwood spoke out.

"You've taken missions from Ozpin for years, how could you ever lose faith in him like this?"

Qrow stopped and spoke over his shoulder. "I've never lost faith in Oz, I never will, all I'm saying is that when the time comes and we're staring everything she's brought down on us in the face, he'll rise up to the challenge. And he'll lead others like him most likely." Qrow turned around and explained. "What you all seem to forget is that we're leading an army of children and robots against destruction and chaos itself. They may obey us, but they won't ever expect us to lead them. We're just teachers to them. That's what the academies are all about, letting them find their own ways, choose their own leaders. And they'll most likely pick someone their own age dealing with the same struggles they are instead of somebody like us."

Ironwood looked at him as he spoke. "I know this is something new for you, but it isn't anything bad at all. They may not want to follow us directly, but it's the things we taught them that will stick with them forever. That's what matters."

Qrow left and Ironwood turned to Glynda and Ozpin. "Did you two know about this?"

Ozpin sipped his coffee. "She didn't, I did."

"When did you plan on telling me?" Glynda brushed her hair back.

"Eventually," admitted Ozpin. "But rest assured, what Qrow said is true. They make their own choices and follow who they choose. I don't, however, think that they, have lost faith."

"Who?"

Ozpin put his cup down. "Either one of the two you are thinking about. Glynda?" he offered a hand to the elevator.

She nodded and left the office, leaving Ironwood with Ozpin. "So what can we do?"

"Nothing really. We let him train as if everything is normal."

Ironwood nodded. "Things like that Ozpin, people don't find them by chance."

Ozpin simply shrugged at this notion.

 **~000~**

Ruby zipped up to the Huntsman at the landing platform Beacon had. "Hey, Uncle Qrow! Are you staying for the tournament?"

"Might, might not," said Qrow. "Depends."

Ruby looked at him. "Depends on what?"

"Depends on if the fights are any good." Qrow rubbed his chin thinking of how well he saw Teams RWBY, CFVY, and JNPR moved in battle. "But we'll see I guess."

Ships began to land and poured forth dozens of students from other academies, clad in their respective school uniforms.

"Didn't some of them already come over during last semester?" Jaune muttered to Nora.

"I'm sure some of them were still taking tests or something and decided to come here just in time for the tournament," answered the Viking girl.

Mercury saw students walk out from their ships and become greeted by their friends from their own schools as well as Beacon students who already knew them. "Can't believe we chose Haven to pretend where we were from. They look so pathetic."

"Guess we'll find out in the tournament." cooed Cinder.

Emerald scoffed. "It'll be a piece of cake."

Jaune saw a large group of attractive girls step off the ship from Shade Academy. "Who are they?"

Pyrrha crossed her arms. "Team NDGO. Why do you ask?"

"Er," Jaune could see the look in Pyrrha's emerald eyes. "I just wanted to know how we'd do against them in the tournament." he chuckled nervously.

Pyrrha lowered her eyebrow. "Well, Dew Gayl is great in my opinion. Her friends, however, are less so."

"How many tournaments have you fought in?"

Pyrrha looked at her blonde date to the upcoming dance. "Many. Never fought against Team NDGO before."

Glynda spoke up, her voice loud enough to attract the attention of a large number of students around her. "Attention everyone! Please report to the amphitheater for your introductory combat class. All of your belongings have been already left in your dormitories, there is no need to worry." As they dispersed and chatted along the way to the large room where combat classes took place, Glynda spoke to Jaune. "Mr. Arc, a word please."

"Yes?" he walked up to her.

"I was wondering if you have a date to the Beacon Dance." she fixed her glasses.

Jaune cleared his throat. "Well, yes Ms. Goodwitch, I do have a date."

"Oh." Glynda shrugged. "Thanks for letting me know."

"Wait, but I can." Jaune caught up with her as she began to walk away. "I can still maybe talk to her so maybe you can come along. There are no rules against having a date and having a group of friends tag along right?"

"Not necessarily no." Glynda stopped walking and nodded. "All right then, I suppose I'll join you two at the dance."

"Awesome!" Jaune instantly realized there was a problem. "Wait, is it against the rules for you to go with us?"

Glynda gave him a rare as gold smile. "Remember Mr. Arc, I'm not technically your date."

 **[You have gained +5 Affection points with |Glynda|!]**

She walked off with clicking heels and swaying hips and Jaune shook his head. _'Damn. What. A. Woman.'_

Jaune entered the amphitheater and heard Glynda's soft voice fill the amphitheater filled with students. "Welcome all to Beacon Academy. To introduce you all to our style of fighting and our student's skill level, I have selected two students I think will create a bit of a show for you all to enjoy whilst fighting. One of them is one of our top-ranked students, and the other is one who has come a long way from his first days here at Beacon."

Jaune took his seat next to the rest of his team while she called out his name. "Will students Weiss Schnee and Jaune Arc please report to staging?"

A few students oohed and whistled while Jaune and Weiss stood up and began to walk to the small locker rooms on either side of the amphitheater's giant wooden platform for fighting.

"Good luck Jaune." Pyrrha smiled.

Nora chortled under her breath remembering Weiss' refined combat skills. "You'll neeeed it."

Jaune gulped as he stood in the changing room switching his school uniform with his combat outfit. He gripped Crocea Mors and his shield as he was about to step out on stage but received a [Notification].

 **[Quest Alert! |Battle With an Heiress|: It's time to prove you've improved from being horrible with a sword! Show all your friends and students from other kingdoms by winning against one of the best fighters in your year!**

 **Objective: Defeat |Weiss| in combat without losing all of your |Aura| or having her gut you like a fish.**

 **Completion Award: +3000 EXP points, and the |Speed Demon| perk.**

 **Failure: +0 EXP points. Accept: Y/N]**

Jaune made a mental note to himself to check out this |Perk| thing in his |System| later, but right now it seemed like the 'gut you like a fish' notion from the system was anything but encouraging to him. Jaune pressed his finger to the |Yes| button and stepped out onto the sparring platform from the locker rooms amidst the minimal cheers and light applause everyone gave him and Weiss.

Yang leaned forward onto her elbows from the stands. "This should be good."

Jaune spotted Qrow in a dark corner of the amphitheater after gulping at the huge number of his peers watching around him. The man gave him a small nod and Jaune returned it and raised his shield, eyeing Weiss from the other side of the large platform. _'You got all eyes on you buddy. Show 'er watcha got.'_

The Schnee girl's sharp voice rang in her own head. _'He's just a pushover Weiss! Put that dork in his place!'_

"Ready?" Glynda raised her hand.

Qrow smirked at a distracted Winter who was watching Jaune and Weiss prepare to spar, the two have a mental proxy battle using their pseudo-proteges as pawns.

"Fight!"

Before Jaune could so much as twitch, Weiss lifted Myrtenaster into the air with her dust gear spinning inside it and attacked, loud ringing sounds that accompanied glyph activation echoing loudly. When she stuck the tip of her rapier into the ground of the platform, a giant flurry of ice rushed towards Jaune.

His blue eyes widened. _'Damn!'_

Not knowing how else to counter it, Jaune built up the strongest |Aura Slash| he could muster, throwing everything behind his swing. The energy of the battle paused for a split second as the amount of power Jaune released into his swing exploded the ice flurry Weiss summoned into a thousand separate shards. Crocea Mors blew through the huge amount of ice rushing towards its owner and broke it all apart from the force of the slash.

Everyone in the amphitheater braced themselves for the pieces of ice flying everywhere, air wisping through people's hair in the process. Qrow's messy black cut waved from the explosion and the man smiled with his nodding. _'Nice kid. Damn nice.'_

Weiss shook ice out of her hair and gripped her rapier harder. "Ugh!" the girl yelled in frustration. She flew towards Jaune accelerating off the floor with her glyphs.

Jaune caught the flying thrust on his shield so loudly a ringing sound erupted across the amphitheater not a second after. Weiss spun into double slashes, both blocked on Jaune's shield before she spun off it with her legs. Weiss then flew like a dart into Jaune's defense, becoming a stinging wasp with her sword, slashing and thrusting not moments apart.

Defending perfectly, Jaune met Weiss' strikes head-on, blowing through them with a slide across the platform and rising up with a parry. Weiss was now the one being struck back as Jaune blurred into his strikes from his cuts into her defense.

Jaune's precise use of |Melee Skills| such as |Soar Thrust| allowed for his white shard to synergize |Boost I|. The watching students gasped in awe at the speed Jaune began to pick up, their eyes occasionally missing a cut or two that managed to pierce Weiss' defense and land cleanly on her body.

"Damn Flynt, look at that cute blonde kid go! He really can't be more on point can he?" Neon Katt from Atlas rested her head on her hands as she gasped at the excellent display of classic swordsmanship on stage.

"Just glad to see a Schnee get what a Schnee deserves," Flynt Coal mumbled.

Weiss clenched her mouth in frustration and struck back from Jaune's drive into her defense.

She was caught into an |Aura Parry| so strong and well-timed she was blown backward and struck against the ground. Jaune's activation of |Boost I| let him dash up to Weiss when she stood up and drive her back from his cuts to her defense. Weiss barely had the strength to withstand the full power of his blows on her rapier, and soon countered a thrust of her own.

Weiss drove Myrtenaster right into Jaune's shoulder, the direct hit driving Jaune back as she launched two clean hacks into him from her glyphs. Jaune raised his shield and retained what remained of his aura after Weiss' strikes, and protected himself from two more attacks. He opened his defense and caught Weiss mid-air and mid-attack again, Crocea Mors ringing against Myrtenaster and sending Weiss flying and sliding across the ground again.

|Boost I| let Jaune hack into the ground and send wood flying as Weiss rolled away, putting her on the defensive. She lifted her sword and absorbed a downward hack from Jaune, the knight going for a |Thrust Slice| which worked wonders. Weiss easily parried the obvious thrust, only for Jaune's sudden slice to interrupt her counter and cut right into her aura, cutting through a small part of Weiss' red collar above her shoulder as he slashed.

Jaune returned to his fighting stance, knowing he had nicked a special part of Weiss' personality: her obsession with looking perfect. Weiss gasped from her kneeling position when she saw her dress maimed, struggling against Jaune's powerful strikes. Jaune's blue eyes widened as he saw Weiss glare at him and summon so many glyphs he couldn't even count them all.

He groaned mentally. _'Oh no.'_

Weiss launched off of all of them with fury over her ruined clothes, Jaune failing to parry each strike from Weiss' speed, taking multiple direct hits to his back and chest from the side of Weiss' blade. Now it was Jaune's turn to kneel from being struck and stand up off his feet to turn the tide of the fight. He raised his shield and stole a look to the aura gauge Glynda had set up.

Jaune was still in the 'green' while Weiss was now in 'orange.' This was made evident by how he saw Weiss pant as he ran toward her after using her glyph rush attack. He feinted a slash and successfully thrusted Crocea Mors into Weiss' stomach. He knocked Weiss back with another slash as she stumbled back and he sent her flying for the third time during their fight and saw her slide across the floor again on her back.

Weiss was getting very frustrated from being tossed around like a ragdoll from how powerful Jaune's strikes were when they connected with her blade and decided she couldn't even give him a chance to attack. She sprang back onto her feet and as Jaune ran toward her and released a thrust, countering, Weiss swept Jaune off his legs with a low cut to his knees.

Jaune slammed into the ground but before Weiss could slip her rapier cleanly into his chest armor, Jaune spun and avoided it. Weiss then drove her sword out of the ground and turned to attack Jaune, feinting obvious strikes while letting more effective ones land. When Jaune returned his own attack, Weiss made a glyph force field that Jaune shattered from the power of one swing.

Trading blows back and forth so quickly they blurred from place to place as they dashed around each other, both teens never hesitated in the slightest in their attacks, fully committed to defending or attacking.

The crowd was wowed at the speed now Weiss built, flying around him from her glyphs and making large amounts of Jaune's white aura dissipate from her attacks. Jaune turned to see her coming and dodged, going for a successful |Shield Throw|. He lifted Weiss onto his shield and flung her upwards. Weiss flailed in the air before summoning a glyph and gripping her rapier as tightly as she could.

In a split second, she saw Jaune below her when she opened her light blue eyes. She remembered how she defeated the large metal suit of armor during her singing and decided this would be no different. She powered pure white dust through her sword and the entire amphitheater lit up when she appeared to be a shooting star flying downward toward Jaune. Her sleek white hair flying about as she soared like a meteor.

 _'Checkmate.'_ the heiress thought.

Jaune simply moved aside from his now honed reflexes and Weiss saw her target was now the hard ground of the platform. Trying to pull upwards, the girl realized she was much too late. When she struck it she slipped off Myrtenaster's grip and landed on her back through the explosion of dust that was lifted when she hit the ground hard.

When the dust cloud settled, Jaune saw Weiss panting and leaning on her sword, still laying on the ground trying to dig it out. She turned to see Jaune standing there waiting for her to stand up and draw her sword. Glynda, however, realized that Jaune had Weiss at his mercy because he could've struck her easily as she was completely vulnerable but decided not to out of kindness.

"Stop!" she held her riding crop under her arm and channeled her semblance through her open palm, freezing Jaune where he stood. When she released him he lowered his sword and proceeded to sheathe it. "The winner is, Jaune Arc!"

The students cheered for both of them, Weiss dusting off her skirt and biting her lip in anger at the part of her collar where Jaune had cut through when he slashed across her right shoulder. Pyrrha stood up and applauded on her feet along with the rest of Team JNPR.

No one but Jaune noticed Weiss run off stage after she saw how she looked after the battle and shook her head in embarrassment.

 **[Congratulations! You have successfully completed the quest |** **Battle With an Heiress** **|, and gained EXP!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have successfully improved in |Melee Basics| and |Melee Skills| and have gained |EXP| as a result.]**

 **[You have currently 15 skill points ready to be invested in your |Stats|, would you like to use them now? Y/N** **]**

 **[You have attained a new perk for completing this quest!]**

 **[Perks:**

 **-Speed Demon: (+10 to |SPD| in combat, and -10% |AP| consumption when using |Melee Skills| or |Melee Basics|)**

 **-Headstrong: (+10 to |STA| in combat)**

 **-Speedy: (+10 to |SPD| when using |Melee Skills|) ]**

Jaune saw this and made another mental note to check the |Appendix| for |Acheivements| as well as |Perks|. He decided to hit |No| and fix his stats later, he had about two weeks until the tournament. Now, he had an apology to make to a friend.

In the locker room, Jaune found Weiss fussing over her torn collar and all the dirt on her dress from the platform Jaune got on her from throwing her around during battle. She saw him in the mirror of her locker and glared through the reflection. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to apologize," he admitted.

"Right," said Weiss.

"Look, I didn't mean to cut your dress. I get that you really like your clothes but-"

"You baited me, didn't you? Did you bait me into wasting my aura?"

Jaune shook his head. "I defended myself when you got angry. But I would never play dirty like that." Weiss kept glaring. "I've always wanted to get stronger, but baiting you is wrong."

"You didn't win fair and square, you cheated."

"What're you talking about?" Jaune paused and rubbed his chin after Weiss said this. "What's your deal anyway? With Ruby, with me, with everything? It's so unnecessary."

"What's so unnecessary?" Weiss asked.

"Your clothes don't need to look perfect all the time."

"It's embarrassing! It's embarrassing that Ruby got to be the team leader and I didn't! It's embarrassing to be up there on stage covered in dirt after I lost to you of all people! It's embarrassing to have clothes nicer than everyone else's but have it be dirty! Can't you understand that?" snapped Weiss.

Jaune nodded. "Yeah, yeah I do."

"How?" Weiss crossed her arms.

Jaune leaned against a locker and sighed. "Every day growing up I wanted to be a hero like everyone in my family. And when I signed up to go to Beacon, my parents already told me they would be fine if I decided to move back in with them. And when I came here last semester, and when I was worse than everyone else at fighting, I felt like a failure. Every time I picked up my sword I failed, every time I tried to improve, I failed, every time I tried to do something on my own I failed. It wasn't just embarrassing, it was heartbreaking to me that my dream to be a Huntsman was a joke. So yeah Weiss, I guess I know nothing about embarrassment."

Weiss took a moment to process this. It was incredibly self-centered for her to assume something so quickly about someone like Jaune. She swallowed hard. "Sorry for snapping at you."

"I'm sorry if I messed up your dress." Jaune smiled which let her do so a little after a bit of silence. "I used to really be into you, I guess it was pretty messed up for me to suddenly stop liking you."

"Why would it?"

Jaune shook his head. "I think flirting with you was the only fun we could ever have in Port's class. Even if it was pretty pathetic."

Weiss snickered. "I guess so."

"You wanna go to the dance with Pyrrha and I? Glynda's already coming with us as a sort of friend."

Weiss looked at him. "Glynda. Going with you as friends?"

Jaune chuckled. "Yeah, I know right? She actually asked me."

"...I think that's against the rules."

Jaune pointed to her. "But she's not really my date. Even she said so."

"But-" Weiss' finger lowered. "Wow, I can't believe I'm saying this but you're right. Still, I don't really want to go to the dance with you."

"What?"

Weiss nodded. "I don't want to go to the dance at all really, it seems like a really dumb waste of time. But Yang's making us all go."

"I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess your dress is white?"

"It's cream-colored for your information!"

Jaune laughed quietly. "Okay."

"But I'll still get all of us tag along with you and Glynda as friends. Even if I really don't want to go."

Jaune understood and started walking away. "Thanks. It was a good fight though."

"It was."

As they began to go their separate ways to their own teams, Weiss spoke out. "And Jaune?"

"Yeah?" he turned.

"I'm glad. I'm glad you dirtied my dress."

"Wh-What?" Jaune almost broke down laughing.

Weiss nodded and stopped speaking over her shoulder as she walked away. "It'll push me to fight you better next time. Before it makes me mad again."

 **[You have gained +10 Affection points with |Weiss|!]**

 _'I guess a decent friendly heart to heart makes for some pretty cool route progression.'_ Jaune waved the notification away.

 **~000~**

Coco nodded her head along to the music at the podium where she was keeping track of all of the students coming to the ball. She smiled wearing her simple brown dress with a golden streak across her stomach wrapped around her back. "Well, isn't this quite the sight."

All dressed up for the dance, Team RWBY followed Jaune who had Pyrrha holding his left elbow and Yang holding his right. Jaune had decided to wear a white tuxedo with a yellow tie that matched his hair.

"What's she?" Coco motioned to Glynda. "Your teacher chaperone for the ball?" she smirked at Jaune. "Or your date?"

"There'll be none of that Ms. Adel." marked Glynda cooly as she strode past the podium.

Coco turned to the large group of girls following Jaune seeing Velvet join them in their dancing in an area of the dance floor. "Whatever you say, Ms. Goodwitch." Coco rolled her eyes as she wrote their names down on the paper on the podium.

"Ugh, how do you move in these?" asked Ruby to her sister as she struggled to walk much less dance in heels as Yang helped her, much more experienced in the matter.

Nora and Ren walked over to them and a certain song started to play. Ren nodded to Blake and took the attention of the entire dance with their acrobatics.

"Wow, they really went all out with the whole 'ninja' thing didn't they?" Jaune asked to Pyrrha's agreement.

Ren slid across the dance floor on one knee as Blake did an upward spin in the air above him, the only thing missing from her movements were her ribbons. When she landed they flew around in each other in flips and spins in perfect harmony.

Jaune started to sway slowly with Pyrrha, Jaune resting his head next to Pyrrha's and moving slowly from side to side with her. Mostly out of jealousy, Yang took Jaune's hand and lead him to the middle of the dance floor confidently.

Jaune had to admit he was a bit distracted by the fact that Yang was wearing a pretty low cut white dress and swaying her hips from side to side as she placed her hands on his shoulders. Seeing the two dance together, Pyrrha strolled over. "Um, I think we were dancing together."

"Oh were you? Oh, I'm so sorry for stealing him." Yang smiled innocently. "Say Vomit Boy, you happen to really like being thrown around in the air don't ya?"

"Uh. Only when I'm fighting, even then I don't li-"

"Great!" Yang held Pyrrha's date by his hips and everyone began to laugh as Jaune stuttered, being carried on the boxers shoulders. "W-Wait, Y-Yang I think-whoa!"

Yang soon sent Jaune flying into the air, having him join Blake as she spun. She caught him after Yang's throw and went spinning downward holding him. Blake landed perfectly on her heels like a cat landing always on its feet, the paladin in her arms then joining her in a dance.

"Welcome to dancing Jaune." Yang strolled over as Blake and Jaune danced, patting him on the shoulder as she walked past.

"Pretty fun I'd say." agreed Blake.

Blake and Jaune danced together despite the music demanding much quicker movements. However, Yang struck again.

"Hold up whoaaaa!" Jaune was flung once more into the air just to land back in Yang's arms this time.

"My turn, myyyyy turn." emphasized Yang as she put Jaune back down and danced with him quicker than Blake was. Jaune had to admit, the explosive way Yang moved him around while bucking her hips from side to side was eye-catching, to say the least. Everything about her was alluring to him, her dance moves, her illustrious yellow hair, and those lavender eyes Jaune couldn't stop looking at.

Considering her movements around him, Jaune couldn't deny the fact that something large and bouncy about Yang was capturing his eyes more. When Yang noticed this, she couldn't blame him and went along with it.

Pyrrha swept Jaune away and Yang balled her fists. "Hey!"

"He's still my date remember!" Pyrrha smiled as they danced.

"This whole thing is crazy," Jaune said.

"What!?" yelled Pyrrha as the music played louder for a moment.

Jaune raised his voice. "I said this whole thing is crazy!"

"You have no idea!" Pyrrha said as Blake suddenly stole him. "Wait, what!?"

Blake and Jaune swayed with the music for a bit before Glynda took Jaune in her grasp. "That's not even allowed, you're a teacher it's against the rules!" Yang said with her hands on her hips.

"I think you forget Ms. Xiao Long. I help make the rules." Glynda danced formally in a waltz with Jaune with one of their hands held, the others on her hips and his shoulders.

Weiss and Ruby stood there awkwardly, their eyes darting from side to side as Yang, Pyrrha, Glynda, and Blake all tried to dance with Jaune, taking him from each other in a sort of game. Yang took who she thought was Jaune but instead ended up being one of Blake's harmless clones.

Blake snickered at a growling Yang, before gasping and realizing Pyrrha had swept in already, swaying away with Jaune. "This is getting a little out of control Pyrrha." he complained in her arms. Glynda made Pyrrha's heels connect to the ground with her semblance and she strode over to take Jaune's hand in their waltz. "Uh, Ms. Goodwitch. I think that was a little out of line."

"Oh don't worry. I'll still be your teacher on Monday," noted Glynda. "I'll never do something this childish ever again. But your ranking in Sparring, after today I'd say it's improved."

The fine ladies of Beacon kept trading him back in forth in a bid for his attention, competing always for who danced with him competitively. Trickier than most others, Yang seemed to outpace her fellow girls. Eventually, Glynda ended up dancing with him now.

Glynda turned to see a girl a full head shorter than her clear her throat. "Glynda, can I please dance with Jaune?" she asked. Glynda couldn't say no to her and accepted.

Slow music just started to play, and Yang growled. "She knew, she knew slow music would play."

"Too late." chirped Ruby with a smile as she began to slow dance with Jaune. She placed her hands on Jaune's shoulders and he placed his own on her waist. Despite their significant height difference, they still managed. "So, I think I'm enjoying this much more than I would've without you." said the girl.

"Really?" Jaune laughed a little.

Ruby kept smiling. "What would I have done? Stay by the punch bowl the whole time?"

Jaune made Ruby giggle. "That sounds exactly like what I would've done too."

"I don't think I could ever forget you Jaune, out of everything that happened here."

Jaune found her silver eyes to be intriguing again, finding himself lost in them. "Wh-Why?"

"You were the first friend I made here. Remember?"

He thought back to when he introduced himself to Ruby. "Yeah, guess you're right."

"You're awesome Jaune. Don't ever be not-awesome."

"Well, what makes me awesome?"

"That white shield parry you do that deflected explosions?"

Jaune corrected her. "You mean the aura par-"

"Shh, just let me have this." Ruby pressed her head to his chest, possible through their height difference when standing, swaying together slowly with the music.

 **[You have gained +15 Affection points with |Ruby|!]**

"Oh! Oh ok then." Jaune was surprised by this, allowing it as they both closed their eyes and smiled. It lasted for a little before Yang cleared her throat. "Hey Rubes, think there are about five people waiting in line."

Glynda tapped her foot impatiently as the rest of team RWBY and Velvet waited for their turn to slow dance with him.

"All right, that was fun." Ruby separated her head from Jaune's chest as Yang took her place with Jaune's hands on her waist and Yang's hands on his shoulders.

"Quite surprising how that went." snarked Yang. "Considering how awkward both of you are."

Jaune joked. "Awkward? Me? No, I'm the super awesome macho ladies man remember?"

Yang laughed with him. "Yeah, it's a bit funny how you used to be the opposite of that. You cleaned up nicely too, forgot to tell you." She noted his very nice clothes.

"Er, thanks. You look," He was at a loss for words. "Amazing."

"Took you a while to come up with that one 'ey genius?"

The two had a good laugh and Jaune mumbled. "Complete opposite? Don't think I've changed much since last semester."

"No," Yang waved a sarcastic hand. "Besides the muscles, the charm, and the fact that you can actually fight now. Yeah, I'd say you're the same."

Jaune smiled after he laughed with her. "Let's just dance Yang."

She accepted and returned the smile. Jaune blinked and looked at Yang's lavender eyes, being simply trance-inducing, Jaune studied the fact that there was one very poignant feature of Yang: her exuberance. Everything about her was bright and warm, and Jaune drew her closer to experience it better. They placed their heads on each others shoulders, and Jaune could swear the sun-like warmth emanating from Yang was enough to melt the small shards of ice still in his hair from his fight with Weiss.

The blondes swayed in the music as they hugged, and Yang smiled in Jaune's grasp. She was lying if she didn't like being held in his arms.

 **[You have gained +25 Affection points with |Yang|!]**

The jealousy radiating from the girls' eyes almost sliced through Yang as they watched, the boxer resting her head against Jaune's as it laid on her shoulder. The height difference was heavily offset by the heels Yang was wearing, allowing this to be pretty effective in its tenderness. Jaune swore he could stay like that forever, that crazy kickboxing combat prodigy he held who drove him to be the best fighter he could alongside Pyrrha, was actually slow-dancing with him much to his amazement.

He smiled and nodded on Yang's shoulder, rubbing his chin deeper into the smoothness of her skin as they rested the sides of their heads together.

Pyrrha tapped Yang's Jaune free shoulder. "Time."

"Shh! Sh! Sh!" Yang extended her finger out to Pyrrha's face and continued closing her eyes. "Just a second."

Pyrrha crossed her arms and leaned back, as Yang and Jaune continued slow dancing for a little more before Yang obliged. She gave Pyrrha a death glare that turned into a bright smile when she turned to Jaune and walked away. Pyrrha and Jaune began to slow dance and Jaune spoke first. "So who's next, Blake or Glynda?"

Pyrrha laughed. "Yeah, frankly this is getting absurd. Weiss and Velvet are still waiting their turn too."

"Why did you go along with it?"

She shrugged. "It's all for fun Jaune. We're all friends here."

"You all were tossing me around in that dance game, real friend-like right?"

Glynda interrupted, walking up to them and crossing her arms.

"Uh, we just started," Pyrrha noted.

Glynda tilted her head at her, a simple look enough to convince her to move.

"Fine." Pyrrha took her hands off of Jaune's shoulders.

Glynda now stood dancing slowly with Jaune, surprising Jaune as she was taller than him. "Not gonna lie, Glynda." He gulped as she shrugged and accepted this. "You were the one I was most looking forward to dancing with."

"Did you now?" Glynda smiled.

"Yeah. You won't get in trouble with Ozpin right?" She shook her head and he asked another question. "This can't be the same song right?" he looked up at the ceiling.

"They're playing the same ones over and over. CFVY has a rather quality taste in music I believe." Glynda mused.

More upbeat and faster music instantly started playing after she said this.

"Wait!" Weiss complained as Yang grabbed Jaune by the arm and looked disappointed along with Blake and Velvet. "But we-"

"Too late!" chuckled Yang as she let go of Jaune and did a few dance moves.

She moved lower and swung her hips and arms around skilfully in her rocking dance moves to Jaune's surprise, eventually coming up to Jaune's height and shoving him back in a challenge.

He had no idea how to respond before Sun and Neptune strolled up on either side of him. "You just gonna take that man?" wondered Sun.

They both dropped a few moves in response together and grooved into their kicks.

Everyone started enjoying the dance except for one particular blonde knight. Jaune had no clue how to dance that well so he slowly snuck out onto the balcony followed soon by Weiss, Velvet, and Blake.

"Too awkward to dance with everyone else?" Jaune asked Ruby as she approached from inside the dance as he leaned on the balcony with the girls who missed out on slow dancing with him.

She clinked punch glasses with Jaune after she passed him one. "Yup."

Blake looked around through the glass to see inside. "I think there's someone from the Atlas military who just joined the ball?"

"Who?" Weiss stood up off the balcony railing she was leaning on. "That's my sister!" Weiss raced inside after seeing Winter.

"She has a sister?" Velvet sipped punch as Blake shrugged.

"We don't really talk about our families," admitted Blake. "I just knew Qrow was Ruby's uncle when we met covering the breach."

Jaune saw Weiss re-unite with her sister as he spoke. "So you went to Mount Glenn for your shadowing." Jaune looked at Blake. "Were there any earthquakes?"

"A few," she said.

"A few?" Pyrrha choked on her punch as she leaned on the balcony next to where Jaune was. "How do you survive a few earthquakes?"

"They were harmless to us, they came from the mountain itself deeper within the caverns," explained Blake.

"Why are talking about earthquakes?" Velvet pointed out as she fixed the hem of her simple brown dress.

Jaune put his punch glass down. "Saw it on the news once. Seemed pretty weird that they were happening so much."

Blake agreed with Velvet that the topic had little substance to it, however after Yang called out to them to re-join the dance they accepted. As they wandered back inside, Ruby spoke to Jaune before they left the balcony. "Hey wait, I wanted to congratulate you on winning today."

"Didn't I beat your teammate?"

"You both did great." Ruby slipped some of her blackish-red hair behind her ear and held her arm, swaying back and forth on her heels. "I know this is hardly the time but, oh nevermind." she looked aside.

"What?" inquired Jaune.

"I thought it was awesome that you improved so much. You must want really badly to be a Huntsman right?"

"Yeah."

Ruby smiled up at him. "I want to be a Huntress, like a lot a lot too."

"Hey, Ruby, why do girls wear skirts and stuff like that when they fight?"

"It's less restrictive than those jeans and stuff you wear all the time." Ruby looked down at her red skirt. "Do you like my dress?"

Jaune was honest. "It's really cool. It matches your hair nicely."

Ruby nodded with a smirk. "Since when did you start noticing my clothes Jaune?"

"Uh," Jaune trailed uncomfortably.

"Wow!" Ruby made in an invisible box with her hands and threw it off her head. "That was super awkward and I suck at flirting!"

Jaune eased her nervousness with a chuckle. "No, no. It's fine, I suck at flirting too."

"Oh, well I guess that doesn't make it so bad then."

 **[You have gained +10 Affection points with |Ruby|!]**

"Right, so you suck at flirting," Ruby turned smugly to the large group of girls that came with Jaune to the dance.

"Hey, I invited them as friends."

Ruby shrugged and threw a thumb back toward the dance. "It's getting pretty cold out here. We'll talk later okay?"

"Okay," Jaune said.

He watched Ruby walk back toward the dance, stumbling awkwardly on her new heels before recuperating with angry mumbles, Jaune felt very much like they were similar in a lot of ways. Not just in their dreams and goals, but in their mannerisms and personality.

"Hey Ruby," Jaune said in a voice loud enough to get her attention.

"What?" she turned around.

"If we'd have gone as dates, I'd have let you wear your sneakers."

"Yeah, Yang forced me to wear these stupid things when we all went as a group tonight." Ruby referenced her hated 'lady stilts.' "I'm just glad I'll never have to wear them again after tonight."

Jaune entered the dance once more to apologize to the girls who felt a little left out from the slow dancing by spending more time with them, and soon everyone started enjoying themselves properly until the night ended.

Cinder crossed her arms leaning on a pillar before Mercury and Emerald re-entered the dance without anyone noticing, helped strongly by Neo's appearance altering semblance. Her underlings whispered in her ears, and all it took was a smile from her to let them know that they had done their jobs well.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **Already got the "Battle Harem" and "Fanservice" tropes developed here from Harem tropes.  
**

 **So there's the dance, and thus begins Volume 3! I won't spoil anything, but the fights will be much different than how they played out in canon. I already planned out who will fight who in brackets I made. Jaune is also a few EXP points from leveling up to LV 21, so he'll level up soon.**

 **And last but not least, the Amity Colosseum will still be floating in its ability to move between kingdoms, but has landing platforms in the center of capitals of kingdoms, so the tournament may take place on the ground but the Colosseum is still mobile. So yeah, I will be turning the Vytal Festival Tournament into a straight up shonen jump style "tournament arc" like things such as Naruto's Chunin Exam and My Hero Academia's Sports Festival (great shows and arcs too).**

 **TigerJacob: Yeah, the reason for the cringe "flip-flopping" you mentioned is likely because I started writing this a year ago and that early on in the story not a single girl in canon had eyes for Jaune. In fact, Yang and Weiss pitied him or ignored him respectively. So yes, I required some rushed stuff to introduce Jaune to the romantic aspect of his Gamer power. Also, I was worse at writing back then I'll admit it. I think if I was to rewrite the first two chapters and the prologue I could just cut out Weiss' feelings for Jaune because the roof scene in Ch 1 with Pyrrha works much better as an intro to the romantic routes now that I look back on it.**

 **smurr79: Glad I was able to write the fluff so well!**

 **HalloweenJackal0w0: Coco and Emerald are a likely addition much later on. As for the girls from ABRN and NDGO as well as Neo, we'll see but perhaps not. My rule with harems is the larger it gets, the harder it is to write.**

 **The Overlod of Ice: Yes that is the case.**

 **Grand Duke of Luzon: Don't really know yet, haven't decided.**

 **Stats and Routes:**

 **LV 20/15 Skill Points**

 **STR: 38/100**

 **SPD: 26/100**

 **DEX: 30/100**

 **STA: 39/100**

 **INT: 15/100**

 **WIS: 19/100**

 **LUK: 12/100**

 **~0**

 **[Blake: 38/100 (Platonic Friends)]**

 **[Ruby: 43/100 (Socially Awkward Team Leaders)]**

 **[Pyrrha: 43/100 (Mutual Friends)]**

 **[Weiss: 20/100 (Rejected Crush)]**

 **[Yang: 77/100 (Platonically Blonde Friends)]**

 **[Glynda: 15/100 (Friendly Acquaintances)]**

 **[Velvet: 22/100 (Simply Comrades)]**


	9. The Opening Match

**~000~**

 _Chapter Eight: The Opening Match_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

Yang wiped some grease off her forehead as she worked on her motorcycle inside one of the small garages on the side of Beacon where it was kept. Reaching for a snack, her loyal pup Zwei brought her a small bit of food she "borrowed" from the school cafeteria. She rubbed her dog's head after eating a little and returned to working on maintaining her bike.

The blonde girl heard someone clear their throat loudly and rolled out on her creeper. "Oh hey Vomit Boy, aren't you supposed to be at dinner?"

"I think the same could be asked of you," responded Jaune. "I see you've liberated some food from it though." he glanced at the plate she took.

"Oh jeez," Yang mumbled sarcastically as she rolled back under her bike. "I'd hate to get a detention or something instead of having some time to myself."

"I um, I thought we were gonna train today?" Jaune wondered.

"Hm?" Yang held her monkey wrench lightly for a second before going back to work. "Oh. For what?"

Jaune looked around the small garage in a 'are you serious' way. "The tournament?"

"Oh yeah, I think you're fine," Yang said nodding.

"But I-"

"You're fine," she emphasized.

Jaune straightened his posture. "I don't really think so."

Yang sighed as she rolled out on her creeper and tossed her monkey wrench back into her toolbox. "Fine, come with me."

"Great," Jaune followed her out of the garage as Zwei sprang to Yang's side. As she started walking back inside the school, Jaune was wondering why she wasn't using her Scroll to get her gauntlets out of her locker. "Uh, aren't we supposed to get changed first?"

Yang just looked at him and kept walking.

The two sat on the same rooftop where Yang, Jaune and Pyrrha trained every night together and spoke. "Jaune, I really don't think that you have anything to worry about in the tournament."

"I wish I could say I felt the same." Jaune shook his head.

"Most of a fight's in your head as my dad used to say."

Jaune turned to her.

"Well," Yang corrected herself. "You get what I mean. You don't even have a semblance but you still managed to beat Weiss. How many people can say they've done that?"

Jaune shrugged. "Not many I guess. But I-"

Yang put her hand on his shoulder. "You'll do great. Just remember what you learned."

They exchanged smiles and Jaune gulped, looking at her stare up at the stars before staring down at her hand. _'Damn, seems like a good place to go for it.'_ Jaune was reaching slowly, preparing to let his hand land on top of hers before Zwei yipped, interrupting it. Yang rubbed the top of his head and turned back to Jaune from the fantastic view the rooftop offered. "I was wondering, how did you improve so much since last semester?"

"You know, I trained with you and Pyrrha-"

"Yeah, I knew that but still," she said.

"Maybe I'm a fast learner I guess. I trained on my own a little during the shadowing, and the Grimm I fought then helped too." Jaune admitted. "Hey, where did you get that bike of yours? It's really cool."

"My dad gave me it for my sixteenth birthday last year. It used to be his when he went out on missions."

"He was a Huntsman?" Jaune's interest instantly flew upward.

"He went here actually, now he teaches at Signal." Yang looked back out over the incredible view offered from the rooftop. "What about your parents?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Um, you've never heard of my family?"

Yang murmured. "Uh uh."

"Well, we've been Hunting since before the Great War. My sword was one of the few made during it."

"Wow," Yang smiled up at the stars. "That's awesome." she looked back at him. "You should tell Ruby, she'd freak out, she loves weapons."

"I already showed her," Jaune said. "It was on the day we met."

Yang smiled again. "Why didn't we talk earlier in the semester?"

"I guess you were the first one to make a conversation between us," stated Jaune. "That day in the library, when I unlocked my semblance."

"You unlocked your semblance?" Yang's eyes widened.

Jaune chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I did."

"Well." Yang rolled her hand forward in the air.

"Well, what?" Jaune laughed a little.

Yang rolled her lavender eyes. "Well, what is it ya dummy?"

"Oh um, I have no clue." sheepishly said Jaune. "This white bubble thing protected me for a little and that was it."

"I think that's just an aura shield," remarked Yang.

Jaune rubbed his chin with his thumb. "I was invulnerable for around five minutes Yang, I'm pretty sure it was my semblance."

"Oh. That's really cool, but it would be even cooler if there were other aspects to it too." Yang opinionated.

Jaune saw Yang stand up as she began to walk away. "So what's yours then?"

"You might see during the tournament." Yang made Jaune's stomach flip a little when she smiled differently toward him than she ever had. "Maybe even up close. Good night." her shoes made small sounds against the rooftop when she left, and Jaune knew she would look back if he watched her walk away for a second, making the game between them even more complicated.

He gave in anyway.

"Ha!" Yang laughed. "I knew it!" she pointed at him.

"No, it's just," Jaune began to confess. "Back when I was getting bullied by Cardin, Pyrrha offered to help me. And I turned her down. And I actually." He smiled.

"What?" Yang smiled back.

"I actually wanted to come to ask you for help. But I just didn't."

"Me?" Yang looked at him. "Why me?"

Jaune looked down at his lap. "I always thought you were really cool ever since we fought those Grimm in the Emerald Forest on our first day. Just," he snickered. "I just never brought myself to tell you."

"That's weird."

"Why?"

Yang shifted her weight from her left leg to her right one as she crossed her arms. "I don't know, we haven't ever really talked like this since I decided to talk to you in the library."

"I just wanted to get to know you better," said Jaune. "Isn't that why you decided to talk to me?"

"I guess so," Yang admitted, smiling to herself with her back turned to him after Jaune told her this. "Good night Vomit Boy."

 **[You have gained +10 Affection points with |Yang|!]**

It almost took him a second to admit this to himself after she left, but when Jaune looked back over the view from the rooftop, it became clear. He had developed a crush on her. _'If Pyrrha hadn't asked me to the dance, I would've asked Yang. Telling her this would definitely let her know that I like her now. How would she react?'_

Ozpin's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Mr. Arc, it is quite strange to see you out here tonight without practicing with either of your partners."

"Professor!" Jaune stood up and dusted off his school uniform.

"I wanted to let you know that team JNPR will be opening at the tournament tomorrow morning. Please be ready for your match by 11:00 sharp at the stadium."

"How are we already chosen?" Jaune asked.

"The hosting kingdom presents its students first. It's always been this way."

Jaune sighed. "I just, I didn't know that. But why us, why not CFVY or RWBY then?"

"You've shown a lot of improvement these past few days. I expect you'll put on a great show for everyone watching." Ozpin turned around with a smile. "You haven't let me down before, and you won't now I think."

Jaune looked down. "N-No Professor." He kept looking down as he tapped on his white shard and invested |5 Skill Points| in |STR|, |SPD| and |DEX|.

 **~000~**

Sitting and watching from the stands where the students sat next to the battle stage, Jaune was looking at thousands of spectators roar from the stands of the Amity Colosseum located in the very center of the city of Vale.

"I remember my first tournament," Pyrrha said beside him as she saw the look on his face. "I couldn't really move until the match began, there were just so many people and I was so nervous."

"Did you win?"

Pyrrha shook her head. "It was close. But I think the result for me will better this time around."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Port's voice echoed from the announcer's booth next to his colleague Professor Oobleck. "Please welcome your openers for the Vytal Festival Tournament! Team JNPR of Beacon!"

Everyone cheered louder as Jaune mumbled beneath his breath, leading his team on stage with thousands of eyes on him, either from a screen or live. "Here we go."

"For all of those watching including participating students!" Oobleck fixed his glasses as holographic diagrams assisted their short presentation. "Allow us to briefly go over the rules! There are three rounds, teams, doubles, and singles. The age and school year of any student is irrelevant. Skill is the only attribute tested in this tournament."

Port nodded. "To win a match, all opponents must be defeated either by lowering their aura to a certain level or knocking them out of the ring. Following a victory, a team must elect two of their members to proceed to the doubles round and then select one of their members to proceed to the singles. After which, regardless of which kingdoms competitors come from, all the remaining combatants will fight in the brackets until a victor is chosen to win glory for their kingdom!"

"Now that that's all settled, we may now begin the randomization process to compete against our, sorry, I mean Vale's opening students!" Professor Oobleck pushed a button on his console and sipped his coffee.

Jaune looked up to the screen and saw multiple students' names rolled down a randomizer before four new ones settled. Port's voice boomed again. "Will Team ABRN of Haven report to the other side of the stage from JNPR immediately please!?"

Team ABRN strode out from the stands for the students facing Jaune and his team amidst the cheers of thousands. Jaune focused on Reese, catching her eye as he couldn't take his calm blue eyes off her hoverboard. After ABRN stood opposite JNPR, Port's voice echoed. "And now, get ready!"

Everyone drew their weapons, Jaune taking a deep breath as he unsheathed Crocea Mors and raised his shield. The environment randomizer spun and chose the 'glacier' and 'forest' settings.

"Three!"

Jaune adjusted his stance, Pyrrha spinning her spear around her hand as she prepared to fight.

"Two!"

Reese popped her bubblegum, smirking as she whirred up her hoverboard.

"One! Begin!"

Before he could react, Reese jumped off her hands with her hoverboard, closed the distance between them and smacked Jaune in the face with it, sending him flying into the glacier behind him. Ice went flying as the paladin destroyed it after crashing.

Shaking ice out of his yellow hair, Jaune looked up to see the rest of ABRN engage his team before they could attack Reese.

Before Jaune could help Pyrrha fight Arslan, Reese struck Jaune with her hoverboard again out of nowhere, the boy gripping his sword and running after her after reeling from the blow. He raised his shield as she led him deeper into the glacier tundra, eventually jumping into an air cartwheel and firing at him with her revolvers she converted from her hoverboard. Jaune raised his shield to protect himself from the blasts, Reese running around the glaciers she landed on as she shot at him.

Running out of patience, Jaune went for a |Soar Thrust| at the turquoise-haired girl above him but this time hacked, unlocking a new melee skill.

 **[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new |Melee Skill|: Jump Slash!]**

The |Melee Skill| was executed so well that Jaune still sent Reese flying even though she blocked it by crossing her pistols, the |Boost| from Jaune's crystal activating. She struck a glacier and made a crater of ice after some flew about. Jaune made a silhouette of himself in an outline in the sun as he soared through the air, landing on Reese as she struggled to not let his sword strike her head, Crocea Mors pressing against her crossed pistols.

When Jaune jumped off her and prepared another strike, she flew away on her hoverboard and Jaune ran after her.

Seeing her turn around a corner of a glacier, Jaune was struck across the face and fell for her trap as Reese tricked him and turned around when he was unable to see her. The blonde was knocked onto the ground, and he rubbed his jaw as he saw Reese snicker at him as she hovered away. Jaune looked at his hands as he stood back up, feeling the energizing effects of |Boost I| and his new update to his stats course through his body.

As Reese flew down a corridor in the ice, Jaune jumped off the walls of the glaciers so quickly he caught Reese in a series of |Power Slashes| that she floated in the air from them. Knocked off her hoverboard, Jaune threw Reese up in the air as she barely had enough time to register what hit her, knocking her out of the ring with her aura shattered in a single |Aura Slash|.

When she struck the edge of the arena by hitting its force field, the crowd roared in glee as a buzzer announced she was out of the match. Team RWBY and Velvet cheered him on the loudest, and Jaune jumped back into the match.

He stood on a glacier and waved to get his teammates attention. "Ren!" yelled JNPR's team leader.

Ren looked up from blocking shots from Nadir's power rifle with his knife pistols. He saw Jaune's signal and nodded, firing back at Nadir.

As the pink-haired student was distracted from Ren's shots, Jaune's |Double Slash| caught Nadir perfectly, sending him towards Nora and Bolin's fight. He was knocked back into the forest from the power of Jaune's swings before Nora disengaged Bolin to knock him out of the arena in a power swing with her hammer, his aura also spent from taking three powerful direct hits. She herself was knocked out of aura as Bolin hit her in her weak point with everything he had, his staff cracking across Nora's back. After she fell, Bolin spun his staff to protect himself from the green blasts from Ren's pistols.

After being shielded from an emerald-colored burst, Bolin held his staff behind him and extended a palm, challenging Ren and Jaune directly. They sprinted together and both their weapons hung off the edge of Bolin's staff when he blocked. He struck them both quickly with spinning kicks and dashed back to avoid their counters following their stumbling. Leading them out of the forest towards his leader, Bolin dashed in a zig-zag to prevent him from taking damage from Ren's pistols.

"Nice pea shooters man!" chuckled Bolin when he accidentally took few of Ren's shots to the leg and took barely any damage, moving to Pyrrha's fight with Arslan.

Jaune warned his friend loudly as he ran. "Pyrrha look out!"

She turned from blocking Arslan's kicks to turn her shield to stopping a swipe at her legs from Bolin's staff. Pyrrha was able to take both of them on at the same time, absorbing attacks from Arslan while returning a few of her own to Bolin.

Now having caught up with him, Jaune tapped Bolin on the shoulder and when he turned around he was struck across the arena to Arslan's feet after she pulled away from fighting Pyrrha. Hearing the crowd roar as Jaune completed his swing and his opponent was nowhere near him, impressed at his precision and strength, he started enjoying this whole tournament idea.

Arslan looked up from seeing Bolin slide to her and saw oncoming shots crossing her arms above her head and creating a temporary aura shield to absorb Ren's pistol blasts.

Seeing Ren, Pyrrha, and Jaune sprint towards them, Arslan helped Bolin back onto his feet and sprinted back.

Arslan guided the tip of Pyrrha's spear away from her face with one hand and used her other one to strike the center of her chest in a palm heel strike, and she went flying back from its power. Pyrrha stood back and shook rubble out of her hair, running back towards an awaiting Arslan. Their strikes met as they continued battling.

Kicking Jaune back to give himself time, Bolin then spun his staff into multiple strikes against Ren, two of them landing and causing him to stumble and create an opening. Before Jaune could swing at him, Bolin picked up Ren by his shirt and slammed him into the arena floor as hard as he could, rubble rising up into the air as a loud buzzer was heard from the screen monitoring team JNPR and ABRN's aura, indicating Ren was no longer able to compete in the match.

Bolin turned instantly to block Jaune's swing after defeating Ren quickly, catching it on his staff. The blow was so powerful he slid backward and Jaune gripped Crocea Mors harder, picking up more speed as he ran at full speed toward Bolin. The Haven student swung his staff at Jaune but he had the timing and reflexes to slide under it in a dodge across his knees, appearing at Bolin's back after the attack flew over his face.

In a single focused swing, Jaune sent Bolin flying out of the ring from a slash to his back and slamming against the edge of its force field next to Reese, another buzzer sound indicating another student defeated.

Arslan sent Pyrrha flying back from a very effective technique. Pyrrha swung but Arslan punched up her torso when closing the distance between them and sent a palm heel strike to her chin, all but breaking her aura in the process. Arslan smiled as she walked toward Pyrrha ready to finish her off but Jaune showed up and shield bashed her away into a glacier. As Arslan recovered from the blow, Jaune offered Pyrrha a hand off the ground.

"I'm, I'm." Pyrrha panted as he helped her up. "I'm not fast enough for her."

Jaune turned his gaze from Pyrrha to see the screen up above. The only ones with any aura left to fight besides Pyrrha who was exhausted were him and Arslan. "I got this," assured Jaune as she let Pyrrha rest.

He walked toward Arslan and the girl balled her fists in preparation, knowing the match would be decided between them.

Arslan's strikes proved blinding in their speed, Jaune raising his shield just in time to prevent palm heels and fists from breaking his aura. The crowd was off its feet at the display of speed Jaune and Arslan put on, blurring around each other from their attack speed.

Equipping her dagger, Arslan spun around in the air as she pulled strikes toward Jaune in attacks from whipping her knife to him with the wire attached to the end of it. Blake became heavily reminded while watching how she herself wielded her ribbons, impressed at how Jaune was able to avoid Arslan's attacks despite how they moved so quickly. Tired of not being allowed to attack from the speed of Arslan's dagger slices, Jaune planted his feet and spun around in a three hundred and sixty-degree attack that cut the wire of Arslan's weapon.

Arslan shook her head and clenched her jaw in frustration before attacking Jaune with her explosively quick martial arts skills.

Jaune rolled into a backward somersault as Arslan's knife hand sliced through the air over him, coming back up and slashing outward in an |Aura Slash| which she jumped backward over. Absorbing an attack so strong the ground cracked around him, Jaune raised his shield and defended himself against Arslan's punch, the girl flying off the glacier behind her with her legs to build speed.

Arslan did a spinning flip in the air above Jaune and when she landed on the ground she exploded off her legs into a body punch that connected with the white metal chest piece protecting Jaune's torso. He flew backward into a glacier and sent ice flying about. Thinking she and her team won, Arslan smirked.

Jaune groaned quietly in the glacier and tapped the white Dust shard forged into his sword hilt.

 **[HP: 534/600**

 **AP: 137/650]**

He quickly realized that if he was going to defeat Arslan, he was going to have to do something unexpected, something clever. And he knew he had only one shot. Arslan turned from all the cheers and saw a blonde blur smash through the glacier above him and send ice flying about. Throwing everything he had behind it, Jaune flung his shield at Arslan from the air.

Arslan easily deflected the shield with her hands and turned about in a spin to avoid being struck by it. A split second later Jaune had landed on the ground and struck, completing his swing through Arslan's torso. The |Aura Slash| was so powerful that time almost seemed to sit still, and Jaune sent a defeated Arslan flying toward her teammates lying on the edge of the arena floor by the stands.

The system registered the |Power Strike| by random chance based on Jaune's |LUK| stat and how high his |STR| stat and allowed for this attack to have maximum effectiveness.

 **[Congratulations! You have achieved a |Critical Hit|!]**

He wiped the sweat off his brow with his arm as he watched the crowd roar after his victory. While he didn't realize it, |Power Strikes| were simply most |Melee Skills| that he was now able to use effectively when fighting.

 **[Congratulations! You have successfully improved in |Melee Basics| and |Melee Skills| and have leveled up as result!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have improved in |Boost I| (Current Progression: 57/100)]  
**

 **[LV 20 - LV 21 (259/3800 EXP)]**

 **[You have attained a new perk from leveling to LV 21!]**

 **[Perks:**

 **-Speed Demon: (+10 to |SPD| in combat, and -10% |AP| consumption when using |Melee Skills| or |Melee Basics|)**

 **-Headstrong: (+10 to |STA| in combat)**

 **-Speedy: (+10 to |SPD| when using |Melee Skills|)**

 **-Vigorous (Able to expand |Aura Point| pool when |Leveling| or |Training|]**

 **[You currently have 5 skill points ready to be invested into your |Stats|, would you like to use them now? Y/N]**

Jaune selected |No| as he heard his Professor's voice. "And with that, team JNPR wins the match!" announced Oobleck.

"Whoa!" Port chuckled. "Let's get that on the instant replay shall we?"

The cameras replayed Jaune flinging his shield at Arslan after jumping into the air, then after he landed as Arslan guided the shield away from her, he was moving as quickly as he could to land back on the top of the glacier and jumped off the ice toward her like a missile, loading up his sword behind him at her as he flew. When he landed the strike connected and Arslan flew out of the arena with a depleted aura.

Jaune had successfully used his shield as a distraction from his actual strike, completely defeating Arslan as he put everything behind it.

Ruby was astounded at how quickly Jaune had moved during the match and cheered the loudest for JNPR. Jaune helped his tired teammates back on their feet and they waved to the cheering crowds.

"Whahooooo!" Nora jumped into the air laughing.

 **~000~**

They celebrated by eating noodles at the festival at one of the stands. Pyrrha heard nearby giggling and saw team NDGO laughing and talking to each other while looking at Jaune, the boy too busy eating to notice them. Pyrrha looked around and saw many people were watching team JNPR, mostly out of awe at how quickly Jaune was able to move during the match.

"Jaune." Pyrrha turned around in her chair to speak to her team leader. "I think everyone's looking at us."

"Hm?" Jaune finished some noodles. He looked around and waved. "Hey everyone, thanks for coming to watch!"

Team NDGO nearly fell over in laughter and the tournament fans JNPR had accrued waved back to Jaune and smiled.

"Jaune I-" Pyrrha surprised Jaune by placing a hand on his arm. The boy looking at her with a mouthful of noodles. "I'm really proud of how you handled yourself out there today. We would've lost if you hadn't helped me out."

Jaune shrugged and swallowed the food he was eating. "It was nothing. Anything for you guys right?"

"Yeah!" exclaimed Nora as Ren quietly agreed with a nod.

"Shall we." Pyrrha tapped the counter a little next to her bowl. "Address the elephant in the room?"

"Wha ele-ant?" Nora asked through a mouthful.

Ren coaxed her in his quiet voice. "Swallow Nora. Breathe."

"Why, which one of us is advancing to the doubles round?" Pyrrha raised a finger.

Jaune brushed some noodles off his sleeve. "I don't have to go it's fine. If you guys want to go more than I do, I'll let you go on ahead."

"What?" Nora swallowed her food and slammed her fists on the counter making the whole noodle stand almost jump. "Did you see yourself out there? You were like a one-man army!"

Chuckling, he humbly accepted. "Thanks."

"Didn't you have fun?" wondered Pyrrha.

"I did, but you all-"

"Enough talk!" Nora stood up out of her seat and the world seemed to zoom around her as she pointed to Jaune. "You will represent your kingdom and school Jaune Arc! And make us proud of being our leader!" she said with a joking sense of heroism emulating Glynda.

Jaune laughed again. "All right fine, which one of you is going with me then?"

Nora placed a selfless hand on her chest. "Oh I'm so glad you asked." she took a gracious bow. "Please, would you do me the honor of-" her tone turned a fake version of her being angry, still joking about her whole act. "Letting me destroy whoever stands in our way!?"

She laughed maniacally and Pyrrha eyed her strangely. "As, strong, as Nora may be, you may want to choose someone who matches your fighting style. Someone who might, you know," she started tilting her head toward Ren indicatively. "Actually be experienced at fighting people with your strategies?"

Jaune pressed his lips together. "Um." he trailed.

"He wants to take you to the next round with him Pyrrha." Ren placed his bowl of noodles on the counter softly.

"Wh-What? How could you know that?"

Ren shrugged, Jaune speaking instead. "I-I just think that we'd go really well together."

She smiled warmly at him. "I couldn't agree more. I'll tell Professor Port tomorrow morning to make it official in the tournament."

 **[You have gained +10 Affection points with |Pyrrha|!]**

"Well well well, the class rejects actually managed to scratch a win. Isn't that impressive?" Cardin smirked and crossed his arms as he approached with his team.

"What do you want?" Nora said disgustedly as she slurped from her noodle bowl.

"The same as you guys. Just a bowl of noodles." Cardin raised his hands. "Everybody's gotta eat, even chumps like you guys. Bet we'll do way better than you losers did."

"I wouldn't say something that dumb." mused Dew in her smooth voice, approaching with her own team. "The only reason they won is because blondie over there's faster than Arslan Altan. Not something I can say about most people, especially you." Dew fixed her spear attached to her back as she looked at Cardin smugly.

Jaune leaned out of his seat a little, sitting in the middle of the confrontation between Dew and Cardin. "Uh, I have a name."

"So what're you saying dollface?" Cardin leaned back with crossed arms.

"That if you'd have faced ABRN, they'd have mopped the floor with you, end of story." Dew smirked back as Cardin's facial expression changed from smug to angry at her next comment. "Dollface."

"Whatever." Cardin proceeded to ignore her as he saw Dew continue to smirk at him. "Let's just eat and get out of here." He sat down at the noodle stand. "A round of bowls for me and my boys please."

A much higher pitched voice than his spoke. " _~Ahem~_ I think you're sitting in our spots."

Cardin turned around in his seat and looked at Ruby and her team. "So?"

"So," Blake closed her book and put it in her pocket. "No one wants you here. Even the noodle guy."

Acting instinctively, everyone turned to the Shopkeep who simply shrugged.

"Whatever." Cardin stood up and before RWBY could take CRDL's place at the noodle stand he said something angrily. "I hate all of you. So much."

"Don't worry, we hate you too." Yang pointed finger guns at him as he left with his team.

"Congrats on the win. Very impressive." Dew smiled brightly at Jaune instead of smugly how she was at Cardin and he could swear Pyrrha was squinting at her as she walked away with the rest of NDGO.

"Four bowls of noodles please," Weiss ordered for them but her card was rejected when she handed it to the Shopkeep. "What?" he handed it back as he shook his head after running it through the cash register. "How can it be declined?"

"It's fine, I'll pay for them." Pyrrha nodded to the Shopkeep.

"Aw, thanks Pyrrha!" Ruby squealed as she began to eat the beloved noodles that were served to her.

Pyrrha responded with a kind smile. "You're welcome. Never would've guessed Dew Gayl would've stood up to Cardin like that."

"Who's Dew Gayl?" Yang was finishing up her noodles quickly.

"She's part of Team NDGO," said Weiss. "She just left."

Blake looked at her.

"What? I've heard of them before." the heiress explained.

Pyrrha added on this. "There are very few who haven't actually, I'm really looking forward to seeing them compete."

"Have you ever competed against them yourself?" wondered Weiss.

"No." Pyrrha set her empty bowl down.

"So, which one of you four's advancing to the doubles round?" Ruby asked.

"Jaune and I will." answered Pyrrha.

"Oooh! That should be fun to watch." Yang struck her palm. "After we own whoever we're facing of course. You guys did amazing. Especially you Jaune." she winked at the blonde, making him eye a slightly jealous Pyrrha who squinted at her, not yet inclined to her flirtatious ways.

Pyrrha stopped squinting at Yang as she returned to her food. "Speaking of which, are we practicing again tonight?"

"Of course!" Yang raised her thumbs up and ate some noodles. "Why wouldn't we?"

"You might want to get some rest in case you compete again tomorrow," suggested Pyrrha.

"Why Pyrrha, are you saying you'd like to be left alone with Jaune?" Yang leaned on her arm smugly.

Her emerald eyes widened. "Uh..."

Qrow walked by. "Oh, hey Ruby."

"Uncle Qrow!" she ran to hug her uncle along with Yang. "Are you staying here for the tournament?"

"I might, but I was here to congratulate you guys on your win. Very good job all of you," he pointed to JNPR as he pulled a sheet of paper from his grey jacket pocket. "Also, your results from your shadowing are in." he turned to his nieces. "Same goes for you, Professor Oobleck will deliver them to you in person."

Qrow handed Jaune it and announced something else. "Oh yeah, all of your grades have been updated too. Catch you later Ruby, I've gotta deliver CFVY's results to them." he waved goodbye to his nieces as JNPR huddled over the sheet of paper Jaune held in his hands.

Jaune read it, his blue eyes scanning the document carefully as he was respectful enough of his friends not to see their results and only focused on his. He had to admit that it didn't sound very much like Qrow considering what he was reading, but he did have to review it with Ozpin and grade it professionally as a teacher so it did make sense to him.

 _Shadowing Assessment_

 _Jaune Arc (Proctor: Qrow Branwen)_

 _Synergy 7.5/10. Comments: This student built good tactics with students Coco Adel and Pyrrha Nikos when facing a very strong Grimm. This was his only time doing so apart from a brief duo takedown of several Grimm with student Lie Ren. Unfortunately, he tended to split up into separate groups with his own team when tackling the horde instead of trying to build any strategies as a group and attacked large groups of Grimm on his own. He also didn't properly lead his own team in specific attacks or coordinated efforts._

 _Dynamics 9/10. Comments: This student was very effective in bringing out his own unique style when fighting and did so very well in completing tasks. My only concern would be synergizing these styles better between those around him but that's another category. His style is quite similar to swordsmen types, but my personal bias aside for that classic method of combat, it is done very well for his school year and age._

 _Effectiveness 8/10. Comments: Needs improvement in perfecting distance measurement and strike effectivity, although he has done much better than how he performed before according to other teachers and is more than adequate, it still requires much more finesse in making sure each of his attacks are perfectly gauged in terms of timing, aura, and distance._

 _Overall 81.67%. Comments: Jaune Arc is an exceptional swordsman who excels in classically effective yet simple combat and did his job more than well enough to defend the villagers in his mission, but fails to utilize the skills and abilities of those around him and has a long way to go before he has mastered the use of his sword._

 _Proctor Reflection: I am looking forward to seeing this student progress further in his journey as a swordsman, and expect much more room for growth in the future._

Jaune reflected aloud. "A B minus? But I did exactly what he asked, I didn't let anyone die, I saved that kid from the Grimm, what did I do wrong?"

Pyrrha looked at him. "He is still a teacher, he has to take things at a detailed level when grading."

Jaune checked his scroll to see his grades and was actually surprised.

 _Grimm Studies. Professor Peter Port. Current Semester Grade: 86/100. Comments: Jaune has improved very much since last semester in class and on assessments but forgets details most of the time. Grimm anatomy seems to be a subject he's actually great at now, making me be proud to have taught it so well._

 _Combat and Sparring. Professor Glynda Goodwitch. Current Semester Grade: 71/100. Comments: While Jaune has certainly improved leaps and bounds since his first spars with students such as Cardin Winchester, he only has had one session of class where he demonstrated any of this new skill. His shadowing assessment has also been factored in as well. (Class Rank: 17/30)_

 _History and Sociology. Professor Bartholomew Oobleck. Current Semester Grade: 70/100. Comments: Previously having abysmal knowledge of history or mythology, Jaune now has taken a tiny step farther in actually demonstrating his prowess in historical studies. I still believe he wallows in mediocrity in this regard, having barely scratched the surface of complexity on most of his tests and projects._

"Holy-" Jaune pulled his hair back at his scroll and he laughed in surprise. "I'm actually passing each of my classes?"

"Wish I could say the same." Nora frowned.

"Well, hard work always pays off Jaune." Pyrrha nodded encouragingly at him.

Jaune turned to his friends. "I don't know who's fighting tomorrow, but it's going to be awesome for sure."

They all agreed and left Pyrrha to pay for their meal, and she of course obliged.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **All requests and questions in the reviews will be responded to in PM. I don't want to inflate the word count of chapters in the A/N's anymore because some can be very long. I forgot to mention that the stats I put at the end of each chapter are Jaune's base stats, not counting his boosts and perks and so on. Thank you all for reading and supporting this story, and see you all at the next update!**

 **Stats and Routes:**

 **LV 21/5 Skill Points**

 **STR: 43/100**

 **SPD: 31/100**

 **DEX: 35/100**

 **STA: 39/100**

 **INT: 15/100**

 **WIS: 19/100**

 **LUK: 12/100**

 **~0**

 **Boost I: 57/100**

 **~0**

 **[Blake: 38/100 (Platonic Friends)]**

 **[Ruby: 43/100 (Socially Awkward Team Leaders)]**

 **[Pyrrha: 53/100 (Mutual Friends)]**

 **[Weiss: 20/100 (Rejected Crush)]**

 **[Yang: 87/100 (Platonically Blonde Friends)]**

 **[Glynda: 15/100 (Friendly Acquaintances)]**

 **[Velvet: 22/100 (Simply Comrades)]**


	10. The Fairgrounds

**~000~**

 _Chapter Nine: The Fairgrounds_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

Jaune cleared his throat to the vendor. "One drink and one popcorn please." After passing the man some money, Jaune took his food into his hands before hearing Port's voice echo on the announcement speakers. "Team NDGO of Shade versus...Team CRDL of Beacon!" His blue eyes quickly flickered to the screen where they were walking out onto their positions on stage.

Jaune almost felt his snacks slip out of his hands. "Oh, there's no way I'm missing this fight."

Walking rather quickly through the halls of the arena, Jaune's speed to make it back to his friends made him almost blind to the orange-haired girl he ran into. Popcorn went flying as she was knocked to the floor.

Jaune shook his head. "Sorry! I didn't see you!"

"Oh it's all right," she said strangely on the floor.

Jaune instantly read the floating blue box above her head.

 **Penny Polendina "Atlas Powerhouse" -LV 26**

Jaune looked at her. "Uh, need a hand?"

"Why sure I would!" Penny was helped off the ground by Jaune. "Greetings and salutations sir!" she saluted him. "Penny Polendina at your service!"

"Er, Jaune Arc." He shook her hand slowly as his thoughts swirled in his head. _'Are all people from Atlas this weird?'_ He remembered Weiss. _'Wait, nope.'_

Penny looked around at all the popcorn strewn about as Ciel stood behind her silently. "I'm so sorry about the mess I caused. I hope that I can buy you some for what I did."

"No it's fine, I'm late as it is. Bye!" Jaune nodded with a small smile as he ran off towards where his team was sitting. He felt kind of bad about running off so suddenly but he was running short on time.

Pyrrha looked over to see her team leader take his seat next to her. "What kept you?" she asked respectfully.

"Ah, nothing." he shook his head as Port counted down after the 'Urban' and 'Geyser' biomes were being chosen.

Cardin growled at the girl who used his own insult against him the day before. "You're gonna regret you ever talked to me, princess."

Dew just snickered to herself which made him angrier.

"Three. Two. One. Begin!" announced the Professor.

Cardin yelled as he ran straight towards Dew leveling his mace. She spun her spear around her and knocked back his strike, kicking him in the stomach to drive him back. Sky moved in to avenge his leader before Gwen struck him, doing a front flip in the air while hurling four throwing knives at him.

He barely avoided the knives by spinning his halberd around to deflect only for Gwen to land with spinning kicks to the body which hit cleanly on him.

Russel had better luck forcing Octavia back from his knife slashes, being quick enough to pretty much make her short sword useless from the speed he had. He grew careless however and copped a set of flames she summoned from her blade.

As Russel flew over Cardin's head from absorbing the Dust attack, Dew made him stumble from a spinning attack to his shins with her spear. She struck upwards by hitting his chin with the bottom part of her spear and before he could reach the ground she summoned tornadoes with another spin.

Russel and Sky flew about as Dove managed to hold his ground before Nebula knocked him up into the dust twisters with her hybrid of a crossbow and a sword. The only member of Team CRDL who was able to stay on the ground was Cardin, who after being blown back from Dew's spear attacks rolled back into a crouch and gripped the ground by placing his fists on it.

Dew gasped. _'He's resisting it?'_

Cardin's weight and armor played to his advantage as he stood up grunting under the dust flying around him. He pressed the button on his weapon multiple times and small dust blasts flew towards Dew. Temporarily pausing her use of her dust devils, Dew did a backflip to avoid the red blasts Cardin sent at her.

Team CRDL recovered from being flown about and Cardin gripped his mace. He was done underestimating Dew. He ran towards Dew again and she planted her spear into the ground to try and kick Cardin in the face and chest. Both strikes missed as Cardin dodged and hit Dew off her spear. She slid back across the rocky terrain of the geyser on her back as she saw Cardin approach.

Rolling aside to avoid being crushed under Cardin's mace, Dew leaped off her hands into a two-legged kick on Cardin's chest plate. This made him stumble back, but he regained his footing in time to parry Dew's spear thrust. She traded blows with Cardin the two moving back and forth in blocks and attacks.

"Daaaamn." Sun gaped at Dew's timing and reflexes after the fact, being able to do a front flip as Cardin swung, landing a spear slash across his head over him.

He roared in anger holding the top of his head as Dew landed behind him smirking. Cardin lost it completely and slammed his thumb multiple times against the red button on his thumb to try an annihilate Dew under the power of the red dust shard in his mace.

The explosions themselves weren't as effective as the geysers set off from the heat of them exploding, blowing Dew back. Cardin was quick enough to swing his mace at the girls fighting his team, distracting them as he released red blasts from his Dust crystal in his mace at the right time.

Explosions either knocked Nebula, Gwen, or Octavia back or distracted them from fighting enough to take a few direct hits from their opponents. Cardin yelled as he sprinted as fast as he could toward Dew leveling his mace behind him, allowing for Dew to prep a counter-attack Cardin never would've predicted. Expecting a strike to his knees, or chest, Cardin leaped into a heavy downward strike to hit Dew.

Cardin was smacked out of the air from Dew's spinning attack to his head that seemed to crack against his hard head like a slap against iron. He went sprawling and slid across half the geyser, scraping up rocks the whole way. As Cardin's aura lowered slowly into the range counter of '44' Dew was jaw dropped at how durable Cardin was against such a blow.

"Whoa!" Port said. "Beacon's very own Cardin Winchester can take quite a hit!"

Growling from anger as Dew re-engaged, Cardin kicked up rocks at Dew as a distraction before closing the distance between them with a more focused swing that knocked Dew over from the incredible difference between his strength and her lighter weight. Dew avoided Cardin's mace again and flew back onto her feet as she spun around her spear with upward spinning kicks.

Strength faced off against speed as Cardin barely managed to parry Dew's swings and thrusts even though she knew Cardin could knock her away easily.

Growing even more frustrated as he traded shots with her as he walked back towards his team as he fought, Cardin picked up Russel from his fight with Nebula to hurl him at Dew. She hit him out of the air against a large rock in the middle of the geyser they were fighting, knocking him out of aura in the process and the buzzer sounded, dodging Cardin's swing that came not a second later. Cardin took two quick strikes to his cheekbones from Dew's spear when she countered at the perfect moment and grunted when she pulled away.

Cursing under his breath as he panted, Cardin looked aside to see Nebula and Gwen drive off Sky knocking him down together and into the red area of his aura gauge. Shaking his head out of his rage as the buzzer rang to announce this, Cardin took a deep breath, realizing charging headfirst at Dew wasn't paying off and was wasting aura. Cardin stepped back and spun his mace around his hand, raising it and looking at Dew in the eyes.

Had he not noticed out of the corner of his eye that Gwen had broken off from fighting Dove to attack him, Cardin might've been defeated by both her and Dew.

When she rushed forward to hurl her knives at him, Cardin knew his counter would be avoided, so he simply shot his foot forward into a hard kick to her shins. Gwen tripped and Cardin wasted no time in smashing his mace as hard as he could into her back, creating a rock crater around where he defeated the girl. A loud buzzer rang as it did when his two teammates lost, but Cardin wasted no time in turning around and using the long part of his mace to avoid a downward slice from the tip of Dew's spear.

Before Nebula could run to help her leader, Dove blasted her in the shoulder with a few shots from his revolver forged into his sword. Nebula staggered before staving off a few slashes from Dove with her own blade.

Cardin watched Dew's spear fly just over his face as he dodged and stepped back to avoid a thrust and a series of spin slices from Dew's spear. He created some more distance between them and raised his spear again to wait for her to approach. Dew looked aside to see her teammate struggle with Dove's offense before turning back to catch Cardin in the middle of an attack to take advantage of her distraction.

Raising her spear in time, Dew parried Cardin's mace away from her head and on the right side of his mace to guide it far away enough to allow him to overswing and expose his ribs. Not wasting a second, she raised her foot and snap kicked him right above his hip with everything she had with sufficient power to make him stumble to his left. Putting as much as she could behind her strikes, Dew attacked with two spinning attacks with her spear's tip and the side of its bottom against the back of Cardin's knee and his nose.

The first hit brought him to his knees as it collapsed his weight and the second knocked him down. Cardin still was quick enough to raise his mace and defend his chest from a thrust from Dew's spear by swiping it away. Standing up as Dew felt sweatier by the minute, Cardin rubbed his nose almost as if he was brushing off his shoulder. Dew was still astonished. _'How many hits can he take?'_

Parrying Cardin's attacks instead of running away, Dew heard the crowd cheer her on even louder than before as she now transitioned to an offensive approach to her fight, and spun her spear against Cardin in multiple attacks. Narrowly being hit, Cardin staggered before Dew backed off for a moment, realizing it was going to take more than her abilities to defeat him due to his durability.

Dew did a backflip under Cardin's mace swipe to attack Dove while he fought her team leader.

Cardin resisted Dew's dust tornadoes that she summoned as she fled and caught Dove in the middle of his own strike. Dove lacked the reflexes to deal with both Nebula and Dew at the exact same time especially considering Dew's speed and the surprise he had when she appeared. He turned to parry Dew's spear only for Nebula to smack him in the face hard with her blade when he did so.

After he fell, Dew spun her spear around in a cyclone around her and eliminated Dove from the match with a spinning strike to his head. Not a moment after the buzzer had rung, Dew looked up to see Cardin had arrived after he pushed through the tornadoes Dew used to stall him as she defeated his team member.

He shoulder tackled both Dew and Nebula after Dove lay defeated at his feet.

Nebula and Dew both avoided being struck by Cardin's mace after getting back on their feet and Dew's plan worked, making him give up ground as they attacked him together. Eventually, Cardin exhausted his aura after taking multiple direct hits from Dew's spear and the blade of Nebula's sword and a loud buzzer sound echoed across the arena when Cardin was struck by both girls at the same time.

The crowd cheered as Dew and Nebula bowed to the crowd respectfully for their hard-earned win.

 **~000~**

Jaune walked out of the arena laughing with his team when he saw Qrow leaning on a lampost outside on the street. He turned to Nora who nodded after he spoke. "I'll um, I'll catch up with you guys later."

"You see the match?" Jaune walked up to Qrow after making sure no cars were coming when he crossed the street to him.

He nodded. "It was all right. I was here to say that you did a great job yesterday with your own match, Arslan Altan is one of Haven's top students."

"Really?"

Qrow cleared his throat after he took his flask out and sipped from it. "Wanted to give you a piece of advice in the coming fights, the same I gave to Ruby earlier. Try to mix up some kicks and punches and stuff like that in your attacks if you want, makes you a bit less predictable."

Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Uh, aren't you big on using your sword?" Qrow tilted his head and looked at him, making Jaune think about his question. He quickly remembered how Qrow didn't even need his weapon to deflect an attack from a Grimm three times larger than him. "Oh." he chuckled. "Right."

Qrow put his flask away. "I get if you're hesitant, it's hard to use just hands and feet to fight anything that isn't people. My old buddy Tai would-" he shook his head and Jaune asked a question.

"What? What did he do?"

"Doesn't matter." Qrow looked aside before shaking his head. "Point is, it's very tough to be effective with those kinds of attacks." he moved off the lampost.

"Goodnight, thanks for the advice."

Qrow was about to cross the street. "Night."

Jaune reached out with a raised finger. "Oh, wait."

"Yeah?" he turned around.

"So um, as a Huntsman you've been all over the world and you've been with all sorts of people and y-" Jaune trailed for a second. "A-And you. You might've at some point."

"Kid, what is it?"

Jaune exhaled. "What do you do when you like a girl? But, you might or might not know if she likes you back?"

"Just ask her out," answered Qrow. "Why're you asking me?"

"I really don't know who else to ask about advice on this," Jaune explained honestly.

Qrow looked at Jaune. "Wait, you're not planning on asking out either of my nieces, are you?"

Jaune's eyes moved slowly to the side. "Uh, would that be a problem?"

"Not really." Qrow shrugged. "Was just wondering. Have a nice rest of your night."

Jaune nodded as Qrow crossed the street. The man wondered about how he'd feel about Jaune going out with either Ruby or Yang, but he had to admit, Jaune was trustworthy from the little Qrow'd seen of him. Also, he didn't know any of the other students at Beacon or the other schools very well either and knew it was just part of the fact that the girls were growing up.

Jaune muttered to himself. "Ask her out? I guess a first date wouldn't be a bad start?"

He considered Qrow's advice. It wasn't a bad idea, but a big decision nonetheless. The part about using either kicks or punches more often seemed to be a strange idea to him considering he was probably much more effective while fighting with his sword, but maybe Yang could teach him. After all, it was her fighting style. Jaune decided to go with Qrow's second piece of advice for the night instead and saw a car's headlights illuminate the road.

Jaune crossed the street soon after the car passed and he walked towards where Team RWBY was chatting.

"Team NDGO was awesome out there today." chirped Ruby. "We should invite them to our dorm for a slumber party to celebrate!"

"Uh, that's a little weird Ruby." Weiss shook her head slowly.

"It's just an idea," Ruby said.

Yang agreed with Weiss as Blake nodded. "Yeah, we barely know them plus we're all a bit too old for that anyway."

"But it'd be so much fun!" Ruby offered excitedly.

Blake smoothed her black hair back as Weiss started walking back toward the dorm with her. "I'm good, to be honest."

"Me too." agreed Weiss.

"Guys come on!" Ruby whined.

Yang saw Jaune approach her and she mumbled to Ruby. "Gimme one sec."

She nodded and ran off to speak to Weiss and Blake as Jaune spoke. "Hey, you busy tonight?"

"Tonight?" Yang looked up at the night's sky. "You mean now?"

"I mean, y-yeah right now."

Yang looked at Ruby's failing attempt to convince Blake and Weiss of her idea. "I mean, not really."

Jaune nodded as he looked Yang in the eyes. "Oh great, great, because I was wondering if you wanted to check out the fairgrounds at the festival."

"The carnival?" Yang's interest sparked. "Sure, why not? Actually, that sounds like a good idea, wanted to see it before the tournament was over actually."

Ruby spoke out somewhat loudly to her half-sister. "Hey, are we leaving or not?"

"Jaune and I are gonna go check out the festival games." answered the boxer.

Ruby could already tell her plan was going even worse. "But Yang what about the slumber party?"

"There is no slumber party!" Blake and Weiss echoed exhaustively.

"Besides, we're probably gonna compete tomorrow anyways," Weiss said as they walked together back toward Beacon.

Yang commented on the match of the day as they left to the fairgrounds walking past loads of people. "It was so nice to see CRDL lose today, they totally had it coming."

"Yeah, I had a feeling they'd lose, Cardin really underestimated them at the beginning of the fight."

"Speaking of which, how is your semblance coming along?"

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.

Yang explained. "I mean have you used it at all recently?"

"Not really." Jaune saw the edge of the fairgrounds at the end of the street.

"Not really?" Yang was surprised. "Why not?"

He shrugged. "Don't want to be overreliant on it. Plus I think I can build myself better without using it too often."

"It can be a very good tool in a fight. And I mean, with a semblance as strong as yours, it really can."

Jaune turned to her as they walked up to the fairground entrance. "You really think so?"

Yang snorted. "Yeah! Temporary invincibility? You might as well just body slam whoever you're fighting and just ignore any damage."

Jaune drew his wallet and spoke to the man at the register. "Twenty tickets please," he said as he passed him a few Lien bills.

"Your parents send you that?" wondered Yang.

He took the tickets the man passed to him. "No, I earned it at my job."

"Who did you work for?" Yang walked into the carnival with Jaune.

Jaune remembered his old employer Tukson with a small chuckle and the old Faunus good luck charm he gave him that he still wore. "A good friend of mine."

"Do you still work for him?"

The knight shook his head. "Nah he had to move away. I don't know where, but there people trying to kill him."

Yang's eyes widened. "Sorry, what?"

"Mhm, I saved his life. You ever hear of the Malachite twins?"

Yang laughed. "Yeah, I've heard of them."

"They're in jail now for trying to kill him."

She pointed at Jaune. "I was at the bar they work at not too long ago. I knew Junior was into some pretty shady stuff, but not that shady."

"What do you mean this guy tried to kill my boss?"

"No," Yang turned to a carnival game that caught her eye. "I'm saying that he might know what happened."

"Well, I know it was the White Fang. He told me so."

"Really? Wow." she looked up at the plush toy of a cow on display. "That looks nice."

"A cow? Why not a dragon or something?" Jaune motioned to the other prizes on display at the game stand.

Yang didn't answer as she tilted her head to the game. "Come on let me try it."

Jaune handed the man a ticket and he handed him a ball to use with the game. Jaune placed it in Yang's hand and she hurled it at the stack of small milk cans placed on the table in the game stand. They all clattered after the ball struck it and the man in the stand handed her another ball.

Yang continued to clear stack after stack with ease and eventually drew a small crowd from how skilled she was with throwing, the loud sounds of the crashing of the cans drawing attention.

"Hold up, I won, where's my prize?" Yang wondered after seeing the table clear of any cans.

The carnival employee picked up a massive can which made the table jump when he dropped it on it. With a roll of the hand and a slight bow, the worker offered it for Yang to strike with a final ball he handed to her.

"Hm...all right." Yang drew back a few steps through the grass and focused on the can, many in the crowd muttering to each other wondering if she could do it.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, when she opened them they were bright red instead of their usual lavender color and it appeared as if though her hair was glowing yellow and on fire. Yang hurled the ball so quickly at the can that it caught on fire itself and made the grass fly by at its speed, the hair of many watching including Jaune's flew by as well.

When the ball connected with the can the entire tent of the game stand flew backward when the can took it with itself, flying clean off the table in the blink of an eye.

Everyone watching was stunned for a second before bursting into cheers and applauding and whistling for Yang's skill at the game.

"Thank you." Yang took the giant cow plush she won after pointing to it and took Jaune's hand as he was jaw dropped and still staring at her in disbelief. "Come on let's try some more!"

As Yang led him to a few different game stands, Jaune was astounded by the fact that he was even going out with her. _'What is even happening? I've never met someone this easy to be around or awesome, how lucky am I?'_

They both laughed and were surprised at the different stands as all of them came to Yang with ease as they were all games based on hand-eye coordination and visual acuity. She tossed rings so accurately they spun right into place on every throw. The game stand rung loudly when the fairground worker pressed a button and as a few of the people watching applauded and Yang hugged Jaune suddenly in surprise, giving him no chance to react before she separated from him to choose her prize.

Yang gripped the hammer and brought it down so hard on the lever that measured the hit on the game that the High Striker bell rang across the whole fairground. As she kept winning at more game stands, Jaune decided to take pictures on his scroll of Yang smiling as she held up her stuffed animals in the air.

"Um, Yang?" he poked his head around the giant stuffed bear Yang won. "I think we should maybe get some food."

"Oh sure." Yang took off the long King Taijitu plush toy she won and was wearing as a scarf and held it under her arm.

After using some tickets, Jaune brought them both a sandwich that was being sold at a stand near the eating area they sat in.

"So," Yang chewed the food Jaune brought her. "You having fun?"

He snickered and swallowed a bite of his sandwich. "So much fun. We should've come here back when the festival first started." Jaune tapped the small red tray the food came in.

"Hey we should've brought Ruby and the others with us, I'm sure they'd love this place," suggested Yang.

"I mean, maybe." Jaune really felt like the subject was tough to tackle so he took another bite of his sandwich to avoid commenting.

Yang offered a convincing idea. "They'd really like it, even more than we would."

"Er, well, you see-"

Yang cut him off. "Jaune you've got a big piece of bread between your teeth." she pointed to her mouth. "Right there."

Jaune decided to mess with her because of this. "Oh right here?" he opened his mouth and showed her. "Are you talking about right here in my mouth, right here between my teeth?"

"Ugh, how old are you?" Yang turned away.

"You mean right here, you're gonna have to be specific Yang, help me." Jaune smiled and pointed into his open mouth as he leaned across the table and Yang laughed as she turned father away. "Help me Yang, help me!"

She laughed. "Blech! Ew, just stop it all right?" she implored as Jaune sat back down across from her at the picnic table.

Jaune continued smiling and laughed with her a little bit before he succeeded in changing the topic.

"Your uncle, Qrow, he told me I should try to mix up some boxing or kicks in my fights."

"He did?" Yang finished her sandwich. "Well, I can train you in that if you'd like besides all the usual sparring we do."

"How much did you train to be good at all that?"

Yang brushed her own hands against each other to get rid of crumbs on them. "Well, I got up every morning with my dad since I was little and do the same routine. We'd jog to the lake not too far from our house after breakfast, swim till around midday. Then we'd come back and eat lunch, do crunches, pushups, just some muscle work. Then we'd spar and practice striking, and finish the day by jogging again to the lake and back before dinner."

Jaune wasn't exactly surprised by this at all. "Wait so you trained with your dad your whole life? Every single day?"

"Yup."

"That was all the training you had?"

She shook her head. "I took a few classes at Signal here and there when Ruby was training. That's where I really started getting a feel for fighting. What about you, what was your training routine?"

"Uh..." Jaune chuckled nervously. "I'd get up every morning whenever I wanted, and eat cereal and play video games all day."

"Sounds very tough." Yang joked as Jaune snickered again. "But seriously, how'd you get in shape for Beacon?"

"No seriously, I didn't train at all up until now. I only started training when Pyrrha offered to help me out. It wasn't until I realized I made a really dumb mistake that I took her up on it."

Yang checked her scroll. "We should head back before Glynda chews us out."

"Oh um, I used to be a bodyguard for a book store owner and I-," Jaune said.

"That the?" Yang looked at him.

"Yeah yeah, that was the same guy I mentioned before. Anyway, he left me his bookshop when he had to leave and since I really couldn't handle the rent I just donated all the books to the Beacon."

Yang put her scroll away after responding to Ruby that she was on her way back to the dorms. "Me mentioning Glynda made you think of books?"

"Well, she is our librarian," muttered Jaune as he picked up a large number of prizes Yang won from the Fairgrounds up from the table.

"She is?" Yang looked at him in surprise, although she had to admit she didn't spend much time there. "Wow, how many jobs does she have?"

"Four, I think. Can't blame Ozpin for giving that job to her though. She took like five minutes to organize the entire store's supply of books when Blake and I gave it all away to the library."

"But how-" Yang forgot how Glynda could move things without touching them. "Nevermind."

"About the idea to mix up kicks when I fight, it's not a bad idea, but I think I want to keep training how I used to."

Yang nodded. "That's fine."

As Jaune walked back with her, they decided to stop at a street corner and take a picture of themselves holding the many prizes Yang won at the carnival. As Yang saved it on her scroll and sent it to Ruby, Jaune looked at his friend for a second. "Hey Yang, would you maybe want to hang out like this again?"

"Sure," Yang shrugged. "I mean, I was gonna invite everyone else to come with us too anyway."

"No I mean, something like what we just did, just the two of us." chuckled Jaune.

"Oh." Yang swept a strand of yellow hair behind her ear and smiled. "Oh sure, I wouldn't mind."

They stepped onto Beacon's grounds and Jaune checked his scroll. "Glad to see we're not too late."

"I bet you've gotten used to having her get mad at you and JNPR," said Yang.

"Not really." Jaune walked with her up the steps to the dorms.

Yang had something lingering in her mind since she started playing the carnival games with Jaune earlier that night. "Hey, I was wondering. If you've never trained to be a Huntsman before, what made you want to come to Beacon."

Jaune smiled lightly. "Guess it's been a dream of mine to be a hero. Don't know why, but ever since you talked to me in the library that day, I've been feeling the need to train harder to become a Huntsman. And." Jaune paused for a moment as he stepped into the hallway. "Not just any, the best I can be."

"I think that's a really great idea." Yang placed her hand on the doorknob to Team RWBY's dormitory. "Thanks for taking me to the fairgrounds today, that was really fun. We should do it again sometime."

"Sure." Jaune turned and before he left into his own dorm, Yang cleared her throat.

"Jaune?" He turned back around to face her. "I think you'll make for a great Huntsman one day."

"Wow, thanks." Jaune smiled. "What about you? How do you think you'll turn out?"

Yang laughed quietly. "Oh, I never worry about all that."

Jaune handed Yang her giant stuffed bear. "Goodnight Yang."

For a small moment, the two looked at each other across the hallway, they decided to move closer together in a small hug like the one they shared at the dance. "Goodnight Jaune." she smiled back as they separated and went into her dorm with so many prizes from the fairgrounds she could barely carry them all.

As Jaune stepped into his room, the [System] updated his [Route] with Yang.

 **[Congratulations! You have unlocked the |Acheivement| "Dating Hero"! You have gained +5 to |WIS| and |INT| as a result!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have gained +30 Affection points with |Yang|!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have maxed out |Platonically Blonde Friends| and unlocked a new |Relationship Status| with |Yang|: More than Just Friends (17/100)]**

Jaune flopped on his bed as he thought about this, seeing the rest of his team already asleep. It did make sense now that they were sort of dating that they would progress quickly and that they would begin to experiment with their friendship. If he was being honest with himself, they both were sort of treating the festival outing as 'definitely not a date', and while he was okay with that, the [System] was telling him that Yang certainly was not.

 _'She really seems to be cool with hugging me lately. That's really sweet of her, but maybe that means she likes me, especially after she told me she still wants to hang out.'_

He decided to change into his sleepwear by putting on his white athletic shorts and read a book he donated to the Beacon library with Blake. As he read it, Jaune kept reading over a single small line in the children's novel.

 _"And so," the Small Prince asked the Squire. "What do you wish to be?"_

Jaune's gaze eventually drifted off from the page into the night's sky view from his dormitory window, seeing the stars twinkle from the school building. Jaune thought heavily on the story's question and put the book away at his nightstand still pondering upon his answer. While he knew he wanted to be a hero, he still wondered if and why he wanted to be the best.

Not far from where he began to sleep, in Team CNME's room in the exchange students dormitories, Cinder sat on her bunk bed watching Emerald and Mercury sit quietly as she spoke. "So you're sure the charges are still set then?"

"We put them online when the dance was happening. They're still live madam." Emerald bowed her head.

"Perfect." cooed Cinder.

Mercury asked his boss a question. "When are you planning on using them?"

Cinder smiled as she looked from Neo in her chair back to her underling. "Whenever I want to."

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **I apologize for not uploading for almost two months, I have been very busy and unfortunately will only get busier as the school semester is about to start for me. I will try to upload more consistently and frequently but I make no promises until I realize how much time I will have this year.**

 **People have pointed this out in the reviews so after posting this chapter here's my explanation for the routes in this edit. The romantic routes function in tiers, when he maxed out a tier by passing 100, or relationship status in this case, he moved on to the next, which is also registered from 0-100. SAO: The Eroge uses a similar system, but I'll summarize it here for my version.**

 **There are essentially three tiers for each romantic route: friendship, between friendship and dating, and dating. Jaune completed the friendship tier with Yang by passing from 87 Affection to 117, and moved from the first to second tier. The system registered this as a new tier and gave him a new personalized Relationship Status as Yang is closer to him. It's the same route, just a new status. Each status has its own progression, Jaune just unlocked a higher tier and closer version of Yang's route with him.**

 **Really, he has 117 Affection points in Yang's route and the system registers the Status as a new 0-100 gauge.**

 **A huge thanks to you all for supporting this story, this story just passed over 1000 favorites and nearly 1300 followers, which is just huge, you guys are so so awesome. This is a gigantic milestone, even bigger than the 1,000 followers milestone this story passed back around the fifth chapter. Even now I can't believe how much attention this story has got over the past year it's just astounding and again, I thank you all so much for it.**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading and I'll see you all again in the next chapter.**

 **Stats and Routes:**

 **LV 21/5 Skill Points**

 **STR: 43/100**

 **SPD: 31/100**

 **DEX: 35/100**

 **STA: 39/100**

 **INT: 20/100**

 **WIS: 24/100**

 **LUK: 12/100**

 **~0**

 **Boost I: 57/100**

 **~0**

 **[Blake: 38/100 (Platonic Friends)]**

 **[Ruby: 43/100 (Socially Awkward Team Leaders)]**

 **[Pyrrha: 53/100 (Mutual Friends)]**

 **[Weiss: 20/100 (Rejected Crush)]**

 **[Yang: 17/100 (More than Just Friends)]**

 **[Glynda: 15/100 (Friendly Acquaintances)]**

 **[Velvet: 22/100 (Simply Comrades)]**


	11. A Hero's Will

**~000~**

 _Chapter Ten: A Hero's Will_

 **~000~**

 **""""**

"Wow." -Speech

 _'Wow!'_ -Thoughts

 **[Game Announcement]**

 **""""**

Jaune heard Port's voice boom across the arena. "Team BRNZ of Shade versus Team RWBY of Beacon!" He and his team cheered on Ruby and hers as they walked out onto the platform. Ruby looked back from the steps and gave Jaune two thumbs up with a smile that Jaune promptly returned.

Team RWBY took their places opposite BRNZ as the biomes 'Desert' and 'Lava' were chosen.

"Three, two, one, begin!" announced Oobleck.

Yang flew forward from the blast from her gauntlets into a spinning punch, promptly blocked by Roy's saw blades on his wrists. When Yang and Roy started trading blows, the rest of her team RWBY dove right in to fight.

Ruby passed her palm over Crescent Rose as it opened into a scythe and she swung it against Nolan's cattle prod. Despite the speed of Ruby's swings, Nolan kept his distance, trying to no avail to land a clean hit on his red-haired opponent. She quickly found that she was having to deal with Nolan as well as May who was firing at her from a distance behind a boulder in the lava flats.

Bursting into a sprint so quickly May's sniper blasts missed terribly, Ruby zoomed past Nolan into a jumping slash that May almost got smacked off the platform with by dodging. Ruby turned around and converted Crescent Rose back into a sniper rifle and fired right at May multiple times. May held her rifle and did a flip off the boulder as Ruby's shots missed, the cloaked girl flying backwards from the power of her own weapon.

When Ruby landed back on the ground she accelerated across the lava flats as she converted her weapon back into a scythe, building up so much speed from her rifle shots that she set off geysers and released a swing so strongly it split a boulder completely in half when she spun. As her scythe split the rock and sent stone flying everywhere, May dodged and Nolan stepped in to prevent his long-range fighting teammate from being knocked out.

Ruby turned from seeing Nolan staying light on his feet and bounce around getting ready to attack to see Blake and Weiss defeat Brawnz together. Weiss parried Brawnz's claw slashes so effectively he slipped and Blake picked him up with her ribbons, her pistol swords wrapping around his ankles and dragging him into the air with help from Weiss' glyphs.

The buzzer rang when Brawnz was knocked out of action.

Before seeing Weiss strike Brawnz's back as he was defenseless when Blake slammed him against the ground, Ruby dodged Nolan's slash and swung back. Nolan held his cattle prod and made Ruby's scythe bounce clean off it when she swung Crescent Rose at his ribs. Ruby maintained control after the hard blocked and built the bounce into a spin, smacking Nolan away when her strike caught his before he could time it.

Nolan swung his cattle prod again and Ruby caught it on her scythe in a block, Nolan reacting quickly enough to conduct a charge from his weapon through Ruby's. Ruby felt her aura leak heavily as Nolan shocked her. Nolan chuckled and prepared to strike her across her temple to finish the fight but Ruby recovered quickly enough to muster as much speed as she could in another attack that interrupted his.

Pulling all of her depleted strength together Ruby fired Crescent Rose again to launch herself into the air and swung at Nolan's ankles with blurring speed, flipping him into the air. Another follow up strike sent Nolan soaring into a boulder in the lava flats. After it split, the buzzer announced he was out of aura.

Ruby pulled her fist downward and smiled in victory as her sister had no trouble at all dealing with Roy since the match began.

Despite his best efforts, Roy couldn't land a hit at all on Yang who pouted at him tauntingly when his saws failed to get close to her. Yang parried an attack before responding with her own, successfully sweeping Roy's legs. When Roy fell Yang punted him across the desert, getting sand all over him. Roy got mad after this and shook the sand off himself and sprinted right at her.

Yang predicted the saw slashes at her head and lowered herself into a push, shoving him back and throwing her hands toward herself. Roy grunted and leaped at her before Yang's jab knocked him back. Taking a combination of punches to his face, Roy was left seeing multiple versions of the smiling blonde girl in front of him. Ending their fight, Yang did a simply flying spinning roundhouse to knock him out before the buzzer sounded off.

All of team RWBY turned to May who was failing to land any of her shots on Ruby who zig-zagged to get to her and defeated her in one swing of her scythe.

May slammed against the force field boundary and the buzzer rang again. "And that's it! Team RWBY wins!" chuckled Port. "We will return after the weekend for another action-packed set of matches in the doubles round!"

Ruby shrunk Crescent Rose into a carry-able size. "That was easier than I thought."

"Says the girl who got electrocuted." Yang put one of her hands on her hips. "Guess you can take heavier hits than I thought sis."

"That was awesome!" hollered Nora from next to Jaune.

"Glad Jaune saw me own that one guy though." Yang winked confidently at Jaune who smiled and moved his gaze to the side bashfully.

He laughed quietly under his breath. "O-Okay then."

Pyrrha noticed this with a small frown.

 **~000~**

"Will someone who isn't Ms. Schnee or Ms. Nikos answer this question please?" Oobleck sipped his coffee. "No?"

Jaune had dozed off quite easily, staring off into the window at his side. Class wasn't very interesting on its own, much less now how he wished to be training instead.

"Mr. Arc?"

He kept daydreaming before Nora nudged him. "O-Oh. Sorry Professor?"

"What legislation passed by Atlas started the age known as 'The Construction Era?' " asked Oobleck.

Jaune thought for a moment on which area of the textbook he read the answer in before responding. "The Core Act, it transferred all powers to a centralized group of government military officials."

"Correct," Oobleck said. "Now as I was saying..."

Jaune drifted off as Glynda rounded the corner of a hallway. She entered the classroom and walked down the steps of the classroom as Oobleck kept ranting. It wasn't until she entered his peripheral vision that he stopped. "Furthermore, it is true that- Ms. Goodwitch? How may I help you?" he sipped his coffee again.

"Yes, may I please see Ms. Nikos?" Glynda asked.

Pyrrha stood up as Oobleck nodded. "Of course go ahead."

Yang was a bit caught off guard by this, not used to seeing Glynda or any other teacher for that matter pull students out of class randomly.

Pyrrha looked at her teacher curiously. "A-Am I in trouble?"

Glynda shook her head as she lead her towards Ozpin's office. "No, the Headmaster would like to speak with you that's all."

"Oh well, what for?"

"You'll see in a moment," answered Glynda.

Jaune was still dozing off by the time Oobleck was ending the class. "I expect to see your notes handed in and annotated by next week. Your assignment will be in pairs of your choice, and you are to write an in-depth five-page essay analyzing the development and handling of Atlas' military in it's earliest to stages up to today." He pushed his glasses up his nose. "To clarify, there is to be no use of your own political opinion within the essay, your thesis should be rooted deeply within how Atlas' political history transpired. You are dismissed."

Weiss turned to her team. "That was weird, why do you think Glynda took Pyrrha out of class?"

"Yeah I that was odd too," said Blake eyeing Jaune as he almost bolted out of class.

Jaune headed straight to his dorm to change out of his school uniform and into his combat outfit made up of his orange sleeved hoodie and white plate armor. After changing quickly with his sword and shield at his hip, he ran as fast as he could through the hallways towards the Forever Fall forest.

Finally feeling freedom from the confines of the boredom of Oobleck's classroom, Jaune built up more and more speed until he released his sword from his sheath in an |Aura Slash| so powerfully blades of the grass around him moved in sync. Vermillion red tree leaves flew about when Jaune began practicing his form.

He began by jumping forwards in a series of hacks, pivoting about and using the momentum of previous swings to build newer ones. The feeling was so liberating to him, his swings so quick that he whisked leaves about as he swung. Jaune felt sweat bead down the back of his head as he ran up the side of a tree in the grove and running back down it he cut twice and landed on his feet after having completed the swing.

Sprinting off the balls of his feet, Jaune built up speed into three consecutive |Double Slashes|, sending leaves flying everywhere in his trail when he cut through multiple tall flower heads. Jaune moved so quick that before the flower heads could reach the ground he did a backflip and cut through the air as he did so, when he landed back on his feet he launched off his lowered position to try and cut anything in front of him to pieces. He missed terribly but still would've shredded anything in front of him.

 **[Congratulations, you have unlocked a new |Melee Skill|: Flip Slice!]**

When the shredded flower petals landed back on the ground, he started swinging at an invisible opponent, Jaune mixed in a few thrusts here and there to smoothly transition to attacks from various angles. He kept pivoting around his heels, shifting his weight around when striking. After around two minutes, he was panting and spun upwards in a jumping slice across the air. Sweating, Jaune contemplated why he was there.

 _'I'm wondering if what Ozpin said before might be true. Maybe I do have another aspect to my semblance, I just need to find it out.'_

Jaune sprinted across the grove and released a slash that split through a tree, bark flying in the air as he cut cleanly through it. The noise of a falling tree attracted Grimm who heard it, and Jaune stretched his shoulder muscles as he rested momentarily. Before he returned to practice his attacks on his own, he recognized the approaching monsters.

Jaune readied himself in his stance, staying light on his toes and keeping his shield up. He had learned from fighting Grimm, charging right in to attack would result in the Grimm backhanding him away to protect its chest unless he timed a somersault to attack as the Grimm did.

When the Ursa roared and swung its claws at Jaune's head he practiced |Flip Slice|, avoiding being struck with a backflip and after landing back on his toes shredding the Ursa's torso with direct clean swipes. After it fell, the |System| registered this quickly.

 **[You have gained EXP from |Hunting|! +100 EXP Points from defeating |Ursa|!]**

Jaune couldn't react to this as another pair of Ursa attacked, one biting and the other clawing. Jaune blocked the claw slash with his shield and jumped on the Ursa's mouth when it lunged forward to snap its jaws into his leg. Not wasting a second, Jaune drove his sword downward and right through the Ursa's snout, crushing through its white bone and black hide. Then he did a backflip over his hand gripping the pommel of Crocea to avoid another claw attack and sliced back a follow up one, deflecting the Grimm's slash with his own.

Jaune rolled under a claw swipe at his head in a somersault and launched upward off his feet into two precise slashes that left the monster in tatters. After completing his swings, the Grimm fell at his feet. Wiping sweat off his brow with his wrist, Jaune looked around at the defeated Grimm he had slain as quickly as they had appeared. He looked downward at the blue panel hovering in front of him.

 **[You have gained EXP from |Hunting|! +200 EXP Points from defeating |Ursa|!]**

 _'Huh that's weird, I never knew that going out and hunting Grimm on my own would earn me experience points.'_ Jaune tapped the crystal imbedded into his sword and after checking |Player Information|, he found that he had indeed earned three hundred EXP from killing three Ursa. Placing the tip of his sword into the ground, Jaune pondered on this. _'It makes sense really. I am exercising from running around and using my arm muscles to swing a lot. I wonder what kind of stat boosts I can get from training too.'_

Jaune hit his sword on his shield to get the attention of more Grimm in Forever Fall and try to level up.

A very large Ursa stepped into the grove and pawed the ground before charging straight at Jaune who reacted by charging right back, despite the enormous size difference between them. Jaune did a front flip after building up so much speed and slashed across the Ursa's back as he flipped over it, dragging up white Grimm bone shards everywhere in the process.

The Ursa Major flew around with multiple slashes that caught Jaune off guard, being much faster than Jaune expected considering the Grimm's massive size. Jaune dodged all clawing, somersaulted under another claw slash and entered the space in front of the Ursa's chest where no clawing was possible. He slashed three times and slipped his sword through the red insides of its flesh like scissors through paper, the Grimm stumbling back from the power of the cuts.

Falling onto its claws, the Grimm charged forward again and Jaune dashed to the side to avoid being hit, dragging his sword across the Ursa's arm in the opposite direction of where it was running, tearing right through it and splitting its arm open as Jaune pivoted into the swipe. Having lost the use of its arm and having its torso cut very badly, the Grimm fought a losing battle against an opponent far more precise and quick in his offense and defense.

Jaune somersaulted under another the claw attack from the Ursa Major's remaining arm and punished it by hacking bone and flesh off its back with one powerful slice that echoed through the grove. The Grimm tried to smash Jaune under its claw but he cut off its arm that he shredded through after rolling aside, jumping upwards as his sword ripped off its arm.

Jaune moved much quicker than the monster when they both struck simultaneously, successfully beheading the Ursa with |Jump Slash|. When Jaune landed back on the ground, he had fallen ahead of the decapitated Grimm.

 **[You have gained EXP from |Hunting|! +250 EXP Points from defeating |Ursa Major|!]**

 **[Perk Ability |Vigorous|: Your |Aura Pool| has increased by +10 |AP|]**

 **[You've earned +1 to |Strength| and |Speed| from your improvement at |Hunting|!]**

Jaune sat on the tree stump he made after ignoring the |Notifications|, seeing Yang approach wearing her gauntlets as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. He smiled at her, a kindness she returned quickly.

"Having fun out here?" she glanced at the defeated Grimm about the grove.

"Maybe," Jaune said.

Yang offered a water bottle which he quickly accepted. "Thought you might be out here."

Jaune sipped the refreshing water and looked up at her. "You train here by yourself sometimes?"

She looked around the beauty of the Forever Fall forest. "Not really, heard you ran off in this direction."

"Want to take a seat?" Jaune picked up his sword and pointed to a tree with it.

Yang understood what he implied and refused with a chuckle. "No need, I'm fine."

"Good job today, you going forward to the doubles round?"

"Yup! Weiss and I are going together."

 _'That makes sense.'_ The strategist in Jaune said. _'Although, all of the girls on her team fight well together whether in pairs, in a group of four, or alone. But I bet Blake could care either way and Ruby would be cool with whatever Yang wanted.'_

Jaune set the water bottle down after drinking half of its contents. "I feel bad for whoever goes up against you. You pack a mean punch, I think you're really awesome at you know, hitting people or whatever."

"You know it." Yang smiled brightly.

 **[You have gained +10 Affection points with |Yang|!]**

 _'Not surprised she likes when I admit she's cool. Considering her personality and such I guess.'_ Jaune rubbed his chin with his thumb.

"Hey I was wondering since your sword's your great-grandfather's is your whole outfit his too?" asked Yang.

He shook his head. "No, I just found these things laying around my house before I left." He looked down at his brown fingerless gloves. "This armor set we used whenever we felt like sparring. Well, whenever my sisters did." Jaune noted.

"How many sisters do you have?"

"Seven," said Jaune.

Yang raised her eyebrows. "Seven? Wow, that must've been rough."

Jaune laughed quietly. "Pretty much. I've had this," he looked down at his sweatshirt underneath his chest plate. "For years, won it eating a bunch of cereal. It was pretty much all I did back in the day, so I thought hey, might as well get a free sweatshirt out of it. What about your outfit?"

"My dad picked it out for me before I enrolled at Beacon. Said he wanted my look to be like his. I didn't really mind as long as it didn't get in the way of my technique." Yang answered.

Jaune looked up from the tip of her boots to her orange scarf, taking as little time as possible to think about her outfit after she brought up the subject. He ultimately understood why it was rather revealing so as to not restrict Yang's movements, but it was incredibly distracting to him.

 _'Maybe that's the point ya dig?'_ A voice in Jaune's head said.

Yang gestured to the path back to Beacon. "Wanna walk back together?"

"Sure, I think I've had enough of fighting Grimm for today," said Jaune. This was partly true, but mostly he wanted to spend more time with Yang even though he could train on his own for a few more hours before really getting tired. The two walked back to their school together and Jaune was really enjoying getting to know her better as they chatted down the path.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

They both laughed as they entered their rooftop training area together. Their cheerful expressions slid quickly off their faces when seeing how Pyrrha looked.

"H-Hey you two." Pyrrha brushed a crimson strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry but I don't feel like practicing tonight."

Yang and Jaune looked at each other before turning to Pyrrha. "Why? What happened?" inquired Yang.

"I'd really prefer not to talk about it," Pyrrha answered.

"Hey." Jaune approached her. "If anything's wrong, you can let me know. We're teammates remember?"

"It's fine, really Jaune," assured Pyrrha.

"Are you in trouble with Glynda, is that why she pulled you out of class today?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No."

"Has something happened that we can't know about?" Yang asked.

Pyrrha stood silent as Jaune sat down on the rooftop, patting the spot next to him. Pyrrha accepted as Yang sat on Jaune's other side. After a bit of silence admiring the stars above Beacon, Jaune spoke up. "If you can't let us know what's happening, at least let us know how you feel."

Pyrrha sighed. "I feel like I can't become who I want to be anymore. An enormous new responsibility has been placed on me, that can no longer mean I can be a Huntress."

"No way," Yang said firmly as she leaned forward to make eye contact with her. "You'd never be a different person because of any job or something, that's not like you at all."

"Yeah. Why would you ever stop wanting to be a hero?" added Jaune.

"Just imagine it Jaune, if something happened to you that meant never fight again." To Jaune's surprise as he'd never seen her like this, Pyrrha sniffled. "I-If you weren't the same person anymore. If your life's goal suddenly meant nothing."

"Pyrrha that doesn't make sense," Jaune admitted.

Pyrrha bit her lip. "It doesn't to me either. None of it does."

"Then let me help you." Yang stood up and sat on Pyrrha's left side, placing a hand on her left shoulder as she did so. "I get confused too sometimes, not exactly in terms of who I am but where to go. My mom showed up after the Breach last year and Ruby went missing, telling me that she wanted me to come live with her. I had no idea what to say, I didn't even know it was her."

Pyrrha and Jaune were both surprised by this as she looked aside and brushed some of her hair back.

"Y-Yang I had no idea." Jaune gulped.

"She told me that after she saved my life the day before, she would be doing me a courtesy by pulling me out of Beacon. Then I thought about you all," said Yang. "Then I knew that my place was here."

Jaune understood, he could see everyone waking up one morning only to find Yang had gone suddenly making everyone miss her. What she said about her mother really made him think.

Pyrrha nodded kindly. "As emotional as that was for you Yang, I don't really have the same problem. My loyalties won't change, I may no longer be the same person anymore."

"What could do that to you?" Jaune asked.

"I don't think she's allowed to tell us." Yang saw the look on her face and looked at Jaune on the other side of the girl who sat next to her. "But I really don't know what to say Pyrrha, I'm sorry."

She smiled kindly. "It's all right."

"Thank you," Yang patted her on the shoulder after giving her a small side hug as she stood up and nodded to both of them. "Goodnight you two."

"Night Yang." he nodded back as she left them. Jaune turned back to Pyrrha. "Don't worry about her, I don't think she'll go around telling people saying you might be hiding something."

"It's not just her Jaune." Pyrrha shook her head, unable to get the image of Amber in her life support chamber out of her head. "I can't stop thinking about this, and I-" she gasped when Jaune rested his hand on hers. Pyrrha looked up and turned to her team leader who was looking kindly back at her.

Jaune enunciated clearly. "If you think you'll change as a person or stop becoming a Huntress, that won't happen. That's not who you are or ever will be."

Her green eyes widened. "R-Really? Are you sure?"

Jaune huffed some air out of his nose almost laughing. "I've never been more sure of anything. I don't know what might happen to you, but if you're there, you'll still be fighting for what's right."

Gasping again, Pyrrha covered her mouth before bursting into tears impassioned by Jaune's assurance which she desperately needed. Pyrrha clutched Jaune's hand tighter as she kept crying, Jaune choosing to comfort her by hugging her closely to him, slowly petting her hair. Jaune continued to stroke Pyrrha's hair soothingly as she cried into his shoulder.

Jaune didn't feel like ruining the moment but he confessed. "Pyrrha, I can only imagine what you're going through. I don't just want to become a Huntsman because my family were Huntsmen, but because I feel like you and everyone else here have really inspired me. My parents didn't even think I'd make it as a Huntsman, and until recently, neither did I. You really helped me find the confidence I needed, and I'm really sorry I didn't let you teach me how to fight sooner."

Pyrrha wiped away her tears. "Th-Thank you Jaune." she went back to sniffling before in a show of kindness, Jaune pressed his lips to the top of Pyrrha's head. This made Pyrrha smile and grow steadily less sad over her predicament, glad Jaune was able to be so sweet to her when she needed it. Her crush on him intensified when now learning how much kindness he could show her when she was troubled.

"Whenever you need me, I'll be there." Jaune rested his head atop hers.

 **[Congratulations, you have gained +60 Affection points with |Pyrrha|!]**

 **[Congratulations! You have maxed out |** **Mutual Friends** **| and unlocked a new |Relationship Status| with |Pyrrha|: (II) Ambiguously Romantic (13/100)]**

Jaune felt Pyrrha's sobs slow until she stopped crying completely as they continued to hug. Pyrrha decided to thank him by separating from his shoulder and kissing him on the cheek which he accepted with a smile. He waited until she was completely quiet to speak again. "We should get back to our dorm before Ren and Nora start worrying."

Pyrrha nodded as Jaune stood up and then helped her up onto her feet, wiping away what remained of her tears.

When they entered Team JNPR's bedroom, Nora turned away from the desk next to her bed and Ren stood off his own bunk approaching them. Seeing how Nora and Ren reacted to Pyrrha's face after crying, Jaune assured them quietly. "She's going to be fine, just give her some space guys."

Both Ren and Nora understood completely and let Pyrrha change out of her combat outfit in the bathroom, the rest of the team getting ready for bed too.

Pyrrha and the rest of Jaune's team slept soundly that night, but not Jaune. He rested against the back of his bunk and stared out the window at the glittering stars above Beacon before thinking about how he felt about his goal to become a hero. Everything in his head told him that he wanted to the best Huntsman ever, and now he knew why after soothing Pyrrha on the rooftop and hearing about Yang and her mother. His friends were his inspirations, they were the reincarnations of the stories he read as a child, the dream he had of being a hero was right next to him on that rooftop.

Jaune took out his scroll and considered telling Yang he wanted her to know that her mother still wanted her to be happy despite her offer.

 _'But that would be something best said in person.'_ Jaune put his scroll away. _'Plus, I wouldn't really know if that's what she wants to hear anyway about that. I actually don't know at all what to say about that other than how much I get what she might've been through.'_

Other questions loomed in his head. Were him and Pyrrha the first people to know Yang's mother had offered to take her in? Why was he thinking about calming Yang about something this troubling after he had done the same with Pyrrha? And most importantly of all, why did what Yang say stick with him so strongly?

After thinking about it for a moment, he quickly felt that it was because he related very strongly to the feeling of follow in the footsteps of his family, the driving force behind his need to go to Beacon and learn to become a Huntsman.

Jaune put his scroll away, and tapped on the crystal embedded into his sword hilt. After putting 3 |Skill Points| in |INT| and 2 in |WIS|, he went to sleep then after.

 **~000~**

 **~000~**

 **Was busy with school and stuff lately, but sorry for not updating in...(checks the day) two months? Sorry everyone! On a separate note, I would really appreciate it if you could go check out the JRWBY sub-reddit dedicated to all things Jaune, it really is lacking new posts and members and I, of course, am already a part of it.**

 **I am going to explain this because there was a lot of confusion last chapter. There are three tiers to the romantic routes, the first is platonic, the second is semi-romantic, and the third is fully romantic. Of course, from there is where the 'M' rating might apply in possible (IV) and (V) tiers but that is waaay down the line and will be its own separate story if and when it happens. The current tier of the romantic route Jaune is in is marked by (II) or (III), or if it is in the first it is not marked by a roman numeral at all or really, an invisible (I).**

 **Thank you all for reading and getting this story to fifteen hundred followers and over a thousand favorites, you all are awesome! I will see you all next time.**

 **Stats and Routes:**

 **LV 21/0 Skill Points**

 **STR: 44/100**

 **SPD: 32/100**

 **DEX: 35/100**

 **STA: 39/100**

 **INT: 23/100**

 **WIS: 26/100**

 **LUK: 12/100**

 **~0**

 **Boost I: 57/100**

 **~0**

 **[Blake: 38/100 (Platonic Friends)]**

 **[Ruby: 43/100 (Socially Awkward Team Leaders)]**

 **[Pyrrha: (II) 13/100 (Ambiguously Romantic)]**

 **[Weiss: 20/100 (Rejected Crush)]**

 **[Yang: (II) 27/100 (More than Just Friends)]**

 **[Glynda: 15/100 (Friendly Acquaintances)]**

 **[Velvet: 22/100 (Simply Comrades)]**


End file.
